Hyderabad: Krishna district is the best performer on the Regional Development Index, followed by Vishakhapatnam, Guntur, East Godavari and West Godavari, according to Indian Institute for Human Settlements report, prepared for Sivaramakrishnan Committee.
Anantapur, Srika-kulam and Vizianagaram are lagging behind on these indicators. Nellore and Guntur have low water risks. The third category measured land availability. Nellore, Visakhapatnam and Kadapa have the most amount land available while unused land is a constraint in Srikakulam, East Godavari and West Godavari districts. On the connectivity index, the best performers are Vijayawada, Guntur and Kakinada.
Three clusters of districts emerged as highly suitable Krishna and Guntur; Visakhapatnam and East Godavari; and Nellore.
A District and Capital Zone Suitability Index was developed using equal weights for all indicators, after a sensitivity analysis showed limited variation in rank ordering with different weights.
Relatively large patches of ‘wasteland’ are located in Rayal-aseema and south coastal Andhra. Large areas of scrubland are present across Rayals-eema, south coastal AP and the upland areas of other districts. These often contain productive land uses and undulating terrain with limited water availability.
Landslides triggered by precipitation that affect the hilly regions of Vishakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts, and also some parts near Tirupati, in Chittor District. These regions are prone to medium to low landslide hazard and can impact transportation, logistics and particular sites. Regarding earthquake, the index number of cities, including Tirupati, Nellore, Ongole, Guntur, Vijayawada, Rajahmundry and Kakinada are at moderate risk, especially to non-engineered buildings and poor quality multi-storey building construction.
