Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu might be jubilant for getting the first master plan ready for the proposed new capital and naming it as Amaravathi on the lines of erstwhile Satavahana capital, but troubles for him are far from over.
Even as his government is claiming that it had acquired 30,000 acres of land for the capital through land pooling, enviromentalists are gearing up for a prolonged legal battle against the move.
Some of them had already moved the National Green Tribunal against setting up of the capital on the banks of Krishna river, stating that it would cause serious ecological problems and damage the flora and fauna around the river.
At the same time, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) is also fighting in the court against the government’s move to acquire fertile lands for the capital.
Noted environmentalist Medha Patkar is planning to visit the affected villages and lead a massive agitation, demanding that the capital of the newly formed Andhra Pradesh should be built mainly on Government lands and on lands which are not under cultivation.
She demanded that lands on which multiple crops were gown should be exempted from the Capital region. She would address a public meeting at Penumaka village, where former Minister for Agriculture Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao, local MLA Ramakrishna Reddy and other leaders of people’s organizations would speak.
The NAPM is demanding that the AP government should give back the lands taken from farmers under threats, if they ask for the same. They also said that concentration of all offices and power at one place might result in regional imbalance and regional agitations.
