For Amaravati, new Greenfield capital of Andhra Pradesh, it is like a phoenix rise after being a ghost city for five years. The city has now sprung back to life with buzzling activity.
The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) is all set to begin the release tenders for ₹45,249 crore construction works in the Capital Region in about a week, according to a senior official. Brisk activity is already seen as in the capital region where clearance of the shrub forest has been given and some works which have been approved are already now in progress.
The works to be commenced include the Assembly building, a high-rise tower, coming up in 103 acres, a 47-storeyed Chief Minister’s office, a new High Court building and basic infrastructure in the capital layout including roads for a length of 579 km. .
The first to be completed projects will be residential quarters for Ministers, Legislators and IAS officers which had been almost completed when the works were halted in the midway by the YSRCP government.
`Still strong’
A team of experts drawn from IITs examined the half-constructed structures and certified that there was no damage and the structures were `still strong’.
While the total revised estimated expenditure for the government buildings and basic infrastructure in the region is ₹62,000 crore, works have now been cleared for ₹45,249 crore so far. The remaining works will also be approved soon, the official said.
The capital project, which began by the TDP Government during its rule 2014-19 was shelved by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) Government of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy after it came to power in 2019. It announced a decentralized capital model with the executive, legislative and judicial capitals at Visakhapatnam, Amaravati and Kurnool. It also halted all constructions in the capital region which subsequently transformed into a shrub forest.
The capital region now bears a new look as the forest has been cleared and installation of street lights. The NDA Government has also revived the pending land allocation to the major educational institutes and central govt offices and banks including the Reserve Bank of India and Nabard.