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Journalism of Courage
The hum of bulldozers and the chatter of construction workers are sure-shot signs of a ghost city coming back to life. Even before Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu takes oath as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, wheels are in motion to revive his dream project of the Amaravati capital city, with workers and engineers on the ground saying they have received directions to that end.
“We are clearing the weeds and the vegetation around buildings; we should complete the pending work soon,” M Madhu, a contractor, told The Indian Express, standing near highrise apartments meant for the All India Services (AIS) officers.
Similarly, at Tulluru, bulldozers are busy clearing dense vegetation around highrise apartments meant to serve as quarters for the state’s MLAs. Executive engineer Basweswar Rao said he has received directions to resume work, and finishing touches are being given. “The approach road to the buildings, and the trunk road which connects Tulluru to other areas, will also be laid soon,” he said.
Official orders, he said, will be issued soon.
Engineers could also be seen inspecting the foundation for buildings that are currency abandoned, and inspecting pipelines the size of mini-buses, which have been lying beside the six-lane Seed Capital Road for the past five years.
Amaravati city, spread over 217 square kilometres, had taken shape in 2015, barely one year after Naidu took charge as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister following the state’s bifurcation. But its development came to a halt in 2019 after Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy led the YSR Congress Party to a victory in the Assembly polls. The project has remained close to Naidu’s heart, particularly since Andhra Pradesh lost Hyderabad to Telangana, the state which was carved out of it in 2014.
During Naidu’s previous term, flats for MLAs and MLCs, AIS officers and secretariat staff had been built, but finishing touches remained. A high court building, inaugurated during his regime, is up and running, as are the secretariat and legislative complexes.
L&T, which got the contract to develop some components of the proposed capital, has about Rs 150 crore worth of equipment lying here, and while it had decided to shift these earlier, an official said they won’t anymore.
The official said the company will soon start construction of roads, drains, utility ducts, etc. After Naidu is sworn in, the government is likely to release payments to L&T and other companies to resume work, officials said.
Real estate dealers and developers have also started going around villages to survey the situation. When the capital city was first announced, there were a number of offices of real estate dealers in Velagapudi and Tulluru, which closed down or shifted elsewhere after Reddy came to power.
“I shifted to Mangalari as there was no activity here during the last five years. Now, there is a lot of interest again, and I have come to check what is going on,” said Chinta Kanta Rao, a real estate agent.
Amaravati farmers, who had staged a protest for 1,635 days, have winded up their agitation and the ‘dharna point’ at Velagapudi is now empty. “There were celebrations here as the results became clear on June 4. With Naidu back at the helm, we are confident Amaravati is on track and we will see a lot of development,” said J Manoj Kumar, the head of the Amaravati Farmers Joint Action Committee. These farmers had donated their land for the project.
A capital city master plan, prepared in 2016, had put the estimated cost of the project at Rs 50,000 crore. The plan was to develop a greenfield city in Guntur district on the south bank of the Krishna river. A consortium of Singapore firms, led by urban planning company Surbana Jurong, were the master planners and the lead consultant for planning, urban design, infrastructure, and industrial development planning.
