TDP Nellore City MLA P. Narayana took charge as the Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD) for the second time at the Secretariat at Velagapudi on June 16 (Sunda), with a resolve to complete the construction of the stalled capital city of Amaravati in two and a half years.
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Speaking to the media, Mr. Narayana said he would use the experience during his first stint as the Minister for MA&UD from 2014 to 2019 to take the project forward by duly consulting the officials concerned.
The Minister said he had extensively travelled the world and studied various capital city models. “We are geared up for developing the capital city in 217 square kilometres after a lull of five years. However, we need to obtain clarity first on what needs to be done,” the Minister said.
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The TDP government had invited tenders worth ₹48,000 crore during the first phase of the capital city project and made payments of nearly ₹9,000 crore for work. Construction of almost 90% of the residential quarters for Ministers, Secretaries and officers was completed with shear wall technology.
Further, Mr. Narayana said that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu wanted him to develop Amaravati as an economic growth engine for the entire State.
“Steps will be taken accordingly. The government will stick to the old Master Plan designed by the London-based Foster + Partners. The Singapore Government had also contributed to the project,” he said.
The Minister expressed regret that the previous Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government destroyed Amaravati, for which about 34,000 acres were pooled in just two months of the issuing of notification on January 1, 2015 without any litigation.
It was possible because of farmers’ confidence in Mr. Naidu’s vision and abilities. The new government would develop Amaravati in a time-bound manner as a top priority, the Minister added.