Scout on for govt offices in Vizag, trams, infra projects to come up

The authorities in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam have already started searching for sites and building for operationalising various government offices in case the state takes the final call to make it the executive capital.

After both the GN Rao Committee and the Boston Consultative Group reportedly suggested that the development should not be concentrated at one place, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) and the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) have sprinted into action.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had recently instructed officials to select buildings for administration and camp office in Visakhapatnam.

The high-power committee of the state government is also getting ready its report based on the recommendations and consultations with the farmers of Amaravati.

VMRDA Chairman Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao said Reddy recently held a meeting with officials on Tram trains and instructed them to get a detail project report ready for Visakhapatnam.

"The Chief Minister plans to introduce trams from Rama Krishna beach to Bheemunipatnam beach road. He has intentions to develop a port city in Visakhapatnam. GN Rao committee and Boston Committee both recommended three capital for Andhra Pradesh," Rao said.

"If the executive capital is set up in Visakhapatnam, there won't be a need for land acquisition. There are several government lands available in Visakhapatnam. People from North Andhra and Visakhapatnam are eagerly waiting for the shifting of executive capital to Visakhapatnam," he said.

Rao said that the VMRDA administration is set to plan the capital as soon as it gets clear Instructions from the state government. "Lands are available in several places in the district," he said.

The Chief Minister had inaugurated projects worth around Rs 1,200 crore projects for Visakhapatnam in the last week of December. Sources say that funds were being released for the projects.

Reportedly, the state government also selected a building for state administration at Visakhapatnam's IT SEZ, where it is likely to organise the Republic Day function on January 26.

Chief Minister Reddy had, during an Assembly session in December, said that the state may have three capitals in the near future for ease of administration.

"The state government is considering setting up Amaravati as the legislative capital, Visakhapatnam as the executive capital and Kurnool as the judicial capital of Andhra Pradesh," he had said.

Referring to South Africa, which has three capitals namely -- Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Pretoria, Reddy had argued that several countries already function with three capitals.