Retired IAS officer G.N. Rao, who headed the expert committee to study overall development of Andhra Pradesh, including the capital, said here on Wednesday that the panel recommended Visakhapatnam as the best option as executive capital of the State.
Addressing a press conference, Mr. Rao said the committee considered northern most part of Visakhapatnam which was far away from the coast as the best place for the executive to function. A metro region which was not part of the city should be established for the purpose.
Similarly, the committee recommended Karnataka model of development zones, comprising Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam as Zone I with Visakhapatnam as headquarters, East and West Godavari and Krishna as Zone II with Eluru as headquarters, Guntur, Nellore and Prakasam as Zone III with Ongole as headquarters and Kurnool, Kadapa, Anantapur and Chittoor as Zone IV with Kadapa as headquarters. Executive powers of development should be vested with Zonal Commissioners of the rank of Special Chief Secretary.
Mr. Rao said it was with the objective of decentralised planning, development and execution that the committee decided Visakhapatnam as executive capital, Kurnool as judicial capital and Amaravati as legislative capital.
Development constraints
As part of the study, the committee discussed development constraints in Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam and Vijayawada to caution policy matters. It came to a conclusion that Visakhapatnam was the best option for executive capital because it already had the required infrastructure and its selection would aid development of a vast tribal area.
The committee toured all over the State to gather public opinion, Mr. Rao said and dismissed apprehensions of cyclone threat to Visakhapatnam, oil spillage near the port and distance of travel between the three capitals which hindered their smooth functioning. He also said the committee went into district specific requirements for their overall development. It asked the government to fulfil all the assurances made to farmers who contributed to land pooling for capital region at Amaravati.
