1Lakh acres needed for capital

Hyderabad: The Cabinet sub-committee on land pooling on Friday dropped enough hints about the government being in favour of developing a riverfront capital city, while ruling out the Nuzvid area, stating that the “steep forest area” there is not suitable for developing the capital. One lakh acre would be acquired for the “most beautiful capital city in India”, which will be developed within the jurisdiction of Vijayawada, Guntur, Tenali and Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority (VGTMUDA).

The AP government will spend Rs 1 crore on development of each acre of land with drainage system, roads and parks among other infrastructure. This would amount to Rs 1 lakh crore just for the development of 1 lakh acre. Hence, it would be done in phases, said IT minister Dr Palle Raghunath Reddy. Over 20 lakh acre land is located within the VGTMUDA area of which 6.50 lakh acre is within the proposed 184-km Outer Ring Road. The process of acquiring land 25,000 acres in the first phase will be completed in the next six months. Planning and designing the capital will take another six months, and in a year’s time, construction will commence.

The first phase of capital city construction will be completed in three years with important buildings such as Raj Bhavan, High Court, Secretariat, Chief Minister’s Office, Assembly, Council and other heads of the department  being targeted to be constructed along with simultaneous development of social infrastructure. The Cabinet sub-committee along with the district collectors of Krishna and Guntur, IG registrations and other concerned officials will meet again on October 6 to decide the land ratio to be offered to farmers.

To convince landlords, mainly farmers, to surrender their land under “land pooling system” the Cabinet sub-committee members Dr P. Narayana, Dr P. Raghunatha Reddy, P. Pulla Rao and R. Kishore Babu said the government is considering to pay rent of about Rs 25,000 per acre per annum with 5 per cent enhancement every year for at least 10 years till they are handed over their share of developed land. If farmers sell their developed land, then this amount would be stopped.