The Centre-appointed Sivaramakrishnan Committee has given its suggestions to the Andhra Pradesh government. The Committee expressed its opinion that it was not impossible to run two assemblies at different places. Similarly, if the government were to develop a capital city within the VGTM (Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri) area, then it would require 20,000 acres of land and Rs 40,000 crore for the purpose. The Committee also clarified that procuring such a large amount of money was not feasible at this point of time. Hence, it suggested that AP government must consider decentralization of power by setting up state Assembly in one place, High Court in another and so on.

The Committee made these suggestions during the presentation made to the AP Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu. The Committee further suggested that the government must make use of government lands instead of trying to buy land from private concerns. However, Deputy CM KE Krishnamurthy and minister Narayana had made it clear that the new capital will be in a centrally located place that will be accessible to all people in Seemandhra. Incidentally, the Sivaramakrishnan Committee has said that there was no need for the capital to be centrally located. The situation indeed looks knotty for now.

-Siva Kumar