Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is an ambitious man. Despite facing a cash crunch, he has grand plans for his new capital Amaravati. However, work is yet to begin, blame it on internal opposition and the not-so-supportive attitude of the Central government. Also, Naidu keeps making changes in the proposed plan for the city. “Why do you think that is wrong?” asks Y. Harishchandra Prasad, chairman of Malaxmi Group that is into property and infrastructure development. “The Indus Valley Civilisation collapsed because it did not want any change. Amaravati is a fresh new capital and it is better to make changes now than to regret later.”
It is clear that Naidu has no intentions of hanging on to Hyderabad, which is supposed to serve as the joint capital of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for ten years. Last October, he moved his office to the temporary capital Velagapudi, which is more than 280km from Hyderabad. However, not everyone is happy with the move, especially the staff settled in Hyderabad.
For Naidu, it is a matter of safeguarding his interest. Hyderabad is no longer under his control and he doesn't share a cordial relationship with Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. Velagapudi, on the other hand, is part of urban notified area of Amaravati. The plan is to work from within the city for its development. “Naidu made his biggest mistake by waiting for two and a half years before shifting,” says Prasad. “He should have left Telan-gana long back, and motivated government employees to do the same.”
While the staff are happy to be contributing to the building of a new state capital, they are in two minds about permanently relocating to Amaravati. “We have small problems, but they are surmountable,” says Satya Sulochana, president of AP Secretariat Women Welfare Association.
Making comparisons with Hyderabad would be unfair. “People may be expecting things they had in Hyderabad, but it is not possible as yet,” says Sulochana. “Travelling is a bit stressful because of lack of proper roads. But we are all from Andhra and we are proud to be here.”
U. Muralikrishna, president of AP Secretariat Association, says most of the employees moved willingly though they had a comfortable life in Hyderabad. “We wanted to shift to our new capital,” he says. The shift, he points out, speeded up the development of the area, with more shops and hotels coming up everywhere. “More than 10,000 people moved,” says Muralikrishna, “so this region will definitely grow.”
Velagapudi is just 5km from the site for the new secretariat in Amaravati. A temporary secretariat has been built here on 45 acres, of which 27 acres are for office space and the rest is for public amenities. This has cost 0180 crore. While the women staff have been put up in hostels, those who have moved with their families have taken up rented accommodation at Vijayawada and Mangalagiri, not far from Velagapudi.
The villagers are slowly becoming part of the transformation, though they still grow paddy and other crops on either side of the road leading to the secretariat. Many house owners have added more rooms and are renting them out. Some are offering air conditioned rooms and meals as a package. Those who have large houses are turning them into men's hostels.
Food for talk: The canteen at the new temporary secretariat | K.R. Vinayan
Three months on, however, Naidu is still facing criticism for the move. The question that everyone is asking is: was the move justified, especially since the government is already facing a cash crunch? But the government is unfazed. “We are using government offices that are available and hence not paying any rent,” says Y. Srinivasa Seshasai Babu, chairman of Twenty-Point Programme, a nationally implemented welfare programme. “We have taken some places on lease and built structures wherever required. These buildings would be utilised by other departments once we vacate them. Nothing will go waste.”
But why did Naidu spend a lot of money in refurbishing the Lake View Guesthouse, when he had no intentions of staying on in Hyderabad? In the past two years, he got himself five camp offices and two regular offices and all of them were refurbished. The government spent 045 lakh on security and renovation of the guesthouse alone.
Later, H block at the Hyderabad secretariat was spruced up, but Naidu's vaastu expert wasn't too happy with it. Finally, a vaastu compliant place on the 8th floor of L block was taken. After the secretariat was shifted to Velagapudi, the offices in L block now lie vacant. For some time, Naidu also worked from a guesthouse owned by infrastructure giant Lingamaneni Group. It caused him some embarrassment as the guesthouse, on the banks of the river Krishna, was built in violation of the River Conservation Act.
To enthuse his employees, Naidu lived on a bus for almost a month. “If I can stay on a bus and without my family, surely the employees can shift to the temporary camp office at Velagapudi,” was the message he sent to his staff.
The latest shift, however, has given the opposition fresh ammo to attack Naidu. “The prime minister went there [Amaravati] to lay the foundation stone and the programme cost Rs 400 crore,” says Gowtham Reddy Punuru, YSR Congress Party MLA from Vijayawada Central. “Why did Naidu have to go abroad to get designs for a new capital? Fresh engineering graduates could be given a chance.”
There is no accountability as far as funds are concerned, says Punuru. “He spent Rs 2,000 crore on Pushkaram [a festival that is celebrated once in 12 years. It was last celebrated in 2016] and though he calls it infrastructure building, most of it is wasted,” he says.
People, too, are sceptical about Naidu's plans. “We are waiting for things to happen,” says M.C. Das, management consultant from Vijayawada. “I personally feel that the plans are overambitious. It is more of window dressing than anything substantial.” He raises a pertinent question. “Which generation would finally get to see the new capital?” he asks, about the delay in implementation of the plan.
Environmentalists have also expressed concerns over Amaravati being prone to floods and seismic activity.
Only a world-class capital city would silence Naidu's critics.
