Amaravati will not face flood problem, says Andhra minister

Amaravati, Sep 16 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh's Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Ponguru Narayana, on Monday said that Amaravati is in a very safe zone and appealed to people not to believe the misinformation being spread by the YSRCP leaders, adding that the capital city will not face any kind of problems in view of the flood in the Krishna river. 

He told mediapersons here that the previous government led by YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) with certain political motives had resorted to false propaganda, and clarified that there is absolutely no problem, whatsoever, with Amaravati.

"To be on the safe side, the state government is taking up the construction of reservoirs and necessary canals to prevent any kind of floods in Amaravati in the future," the Minister said.

Narayana mentioned that the previous government not only resorted to false propaganda that Amaravati was not fit to be the capital but also wrote to the World Bank not to release any kind of funds for the capital.

He claimed that at the time of capital design itself, the building of reservoirs and canals was proposed. He said though the Krishna river received 11.43 lakh cusecs of flood flow recently, Amaravati faced no problems.

"By the coming rainy season, all the proposed three canals spreading to an extent of 48.3 km will be completed as tenders are being called very soon," the Minister said. 

Construction of three reservoirs is also being taken up and once these reservoirs and canals are completed not even a single drop of flood water will be blocked in the capital region, he added.

Observing that the construction of the buildings in the capital region taken up during 2014 and 2019 came to a grinding halt, he said that the TDP-led NDA government has sought the opinion of IIT experts from Hyderabad and Chennai and the report has already been submitted to the government. 

Besides the iconic buildings like the State Secretariat, the High Court and the 3,600 apartments being built for government employees are safe, and these experts felt that the construction of these buildings could be taken up further.

"We are calling for tenders in the coming couple of months to take up the completion of these buildings," Narayana maintained. 

Admitting that the jungle clearance work had been stalled due to the floods, he said that this would be completed soon.

The Minister also said that the Rs 175 crore to be credited as lease to the farmers who have donated land for the capital will be credited to their accounts "either on Tuesday or latest by Wednesday". 

Narayana said that if anyone comes forward to give land under land pooling, he himself will go to personally receive it.

--IANS

ms/pgh