Botcha Satyanarayana favours Vizag as executive capital

Visakhapatnam: Minister for municipal administration and urban development Botcha Satyanarayana pointed out that even after getting loan to the tune of Rs 1.95 lakh crore for the development of the capital in Amaravati, the TDP government had only spent Rs.5,000 crore.

Briefing the media here on Sunday, the minister questioned what did the TDP do with the rest of the funds. Botcha said Visakhapatnam has all the potential to be developed on a par with Hyderabad.

"Hence, compared to other 13 districts in Andhra Pradesh, Vizag which is the fastest growing city in the country can be developed into executive capital," he opined. He said that if Rs 10,000 crore could be invested in the City of Destiny, it can be developed better than Hyderabad. "However, investing in Amaravati is waste of public money as it takes 120-feet to dig up for the foundation," he pointed out.

Based on the high power committee's report, decision on capital city will be taken, he said. The minister said that the report of the G N Rao Committee was more or less similar to the earlier reports submitted by Srikrishna Committee as well as Sivaramakrishnan Committee.

Botcha wondered why the TDP continues to oppose every move made by the YSRCP. "Is N Chandrababu Naidu interested in developing drought-stricken region of Andhra Pradesh or not?" he said.

Recalling the statement of Rajya Sabha member and BJP leader Y Sujana Chowdary that the BJP would not allow splitting of the capital cities, Botcha asked whether it was a 'rule'.

"The proposal of decentralised administration is a step towards undoing the 'mistakes' committed by the earlier government," the minister clarified.