Sunday 2 March 2014

Donakonda emerging as frontrunner

Donakonda emerging as frontrunner

M.L.MELLY MAITREYI
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Despite the growing clamour to locate the new capital city for the residual Andhra Pradesh between Vijayawada and Guntur or in Kurnool which was the capital of Andhra State before merger, a nondescript area, Donakonda in Prakasam may emerge as a strong contender.
Availability of abundant Government land -- a whopping 54,000 acres which cuts the acquisition cost to minimum, central to all districts of Seemandhra region, an aerodrome that can be made operational immediately and Darsi branch canal which can carry Krishna water to Donakonda and Guntur-Bangaluru railway line are what seem to be weighing in its favour for developing a green field capital city.
A new capital city may have a maximum population of one lakh in the first phase including employees of Secretariat, Head of Departments, staff associated with the legislature, Ministers and their families and floating population of about 40,000. To begin with 5,000 acres of unencumbered government land should be sufficient with a buffer government land of another 15,000 acres.
An informal study commissioned by some individuals on various possible locations mentioned that metro cities like Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata were all but small villages when they were identified by the then British Government to be developed as capitals of the Presidency areas as they were close to ports. The villages were developed into towns and over two centuries transformed into major metros. “A new green field Capital City should lend itself for gradual growth with abundant Government land all around, apart from being easily accessible to all the districts of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. Thus Donakonda becomes a preferable location compared to other places in Krishna, Guntur, North Coastal Andhra, uplands of Nellore or Rayalaseema,” sources said.
An opinion is gaining ground in many quarters that developing a city on the lines of Hyderabad should be shunned as it rendered all other cities inconsequential. Precisely for this reason Macharla in Guntur, closer to Hyderabad, would not be a wise choice, they said.
Across the World too, it is not always the most populated and congested city that is the capital of the country or of the State. For instance, the headquarters of New York State is in Albunny, a small city and for California, the headquarters is not San Fransisco but Sacramento. Canberra, the capital of Australia is just an administrative city and capital while its financial and industrial headquarters are Sydney and Melbourne, those in favour of Donakonda reel out.
An opinion is gaining ground in that developing a city on the lines of Hyderabad should be shunned as it rendered all other cities inconsequential

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