Hyderabad: If Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy decides to locate the state secretariat in the “executive capital”, Visakhapatnam, it will likely come up in Mudasarlova near Pendurthi, 25 km from Visakhapatnam city.
After the chief minister announced that there will be three capital cities, the topic of discussion has been in which city will the state secretariat be located - Amaravati or Visakhapatnam. Sources close to the CM say that he will decide after getting the expert committee’s report.
On the instructions of the CM, government lands in various parts of Visakhapatnam city have been identified as possible sites. There is no need to acquire any private land as about 500 to 600 acres of government land is available in and around Visakhapatnam.
At first it was suggested that the secretariat be constructed in Visakhapatnam port lands.
But later the area was found to be polluted and, moreover, the state government would have to approach the central government for allotting the port land.
Mudasarlova, just 25 km away from the city, was felt to be the best option as it takes just 30 minutes to get there from the city.
Some senior officials have suggested that it is better to let the secretariat remain in Amaravati along with the Assembly, Legislative Council and Raj Bhavan. If the secretariat is located in Visakhapatnam, employees will again have to shift from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam after moving from Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam earlier. Amaravati would also be more convenient for the CM who has constructed his own house in Tadepally.
