Andhra Pradesh staff identify hillocks for establishing institutes

Hyderabad: Lack of availability of large tracts of land in and around, Vijayawada has put major institutions like the IITs and IIMs in a spot. Vijayawada revenue division, which covers the city and suburbs like Kankipadu, Ibrah-impatnam and rural pockets of Nandigama, Mylavaram. Jaggai-ahpet, has only 12,143 acres of all kinds of government land, that are mostly hillocks.

While the state administration has asked for land for a Central University on about 500 acres, AIIMS on 100 acres and APSP additional battalion, 150 to 200 acres, the authorities do not have a single stretch of land to offer.

The situation is similar in Gudivada revenue division and the only hope for Krishna district is the land in Nuzivid. As the Machilipatnam revenue division is highly prone to floods and not connected to mainstream cities it is unlikely to get the prestigious institutes. The other hope for the capital zone is Mangalgiri area of neighbouring Guntur district.

“The forest, revenue, endowments and Wakf land together account for 12,143 acres. Even land at Jayanthipuram near Jaggaiahpet is a hillock. This land may be allotted to APSP battalion,” a senior revenue official said.

Even for an IIT or an IIM only five spots have been shown in and around Vijayawada. They need 50 acres of land each. “Most of the hillock areas are already quarried. There is serious scarcity of land,” said an official. There is no government land available in the core city of Vijayawada.