Expert panel set up to suggest development strategy for AP

A six-member committee of experts tasked with suggesting a comprehensive strategy for all-round development of Andhra Pradesh, including the Capital city, submitted its report to the state government on Friday.

The panel, which had also been asked by the over six- month old YSRC government to undertake a quick review of the developmental plans initiated so far, presented the report to Chief Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy here, official sources said.

The report was keenly awaited particularly its suggestions with regard to the state capital Amaravati, as Jagan Reddy's recent statement on having three different capitals at multiple locations has triggered a fresh round of speculation.

There has been no official word from the Chief Ministers Office so far on the contents of the report submitted by the committee, headed by retired IAS officer G Nageswara Rao.

The state Cabinet is scheduled to meet here on December 27 where the expert committee report will be discussed, official sources said.

Mahavir, Professor of Planning, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi; Anjali Mohan, Urban and Regional Planner; Shivananda Swamy, CEPT, Ahmedabad; K T Ravindran, retired professor, Delhi School of Architecture, and K V Arunachalam, retired Chief Urban Planner, Chennai, are the other members.

The committee, constituted on September 13, toured different parts of the state and spoke to a cross-section of people to elicit views on various aspects.

It also sought the views of farmers who gave up over 33,000 acres of their fertile agricultural land for the development of the capital city at Amaravati.

The state government has been maintaining that it would take a final call on the shape and scope of the capital based on the recommendations of the experts committee.

But the Chief Minister virtually dropped a bombshell on December 17, hinting that the state could have three capitals