Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s dream project of construction of World-class capital Amaravati hit another roadblock. Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) raised many queries over the forest land, which Naidu sought to be de-notified, for the construction of the capital on the banks of River Krishna in Guntur district.
The centre has sent back the proposal seeking more details on the purpose for which the land would be used.
Already, the state is not able to finalize deal with the Singapore companies which are CM Naidu’s choice for the construction of the capital. As the talks have not been concluded, the capital construction looks unlikely to take off in near future. So, the state has initiated process to construct temporary secretariat at a huge cost of Rs 180 cr near Mangalagiri.
The state government sought identification of about 20,000 ha of forest land for the development of capital region. Since de-notification of forest land is a serious issue, that too in a state like Andhra Pradesh, where the forest cover is just 23 per cent against the norm of 33 pc, Naidu took it upon himself to ensure that the permission is granted to the state to transfer the forest lands to CRDA. On July 10, Naidu personally met MoEF Prakash Javadekar and sought early clearance for the transfer of the forest land. It is Naidu’s practice to enter the fray directly when high stakes are involved. Naidu’s frequents visits to Singapore also bear testimony to this.
Naidu, some time back, successfully got permission accorded to the transfer of about 2000 ac of forest land to AP state mineral development corporation to mine the bauxite in Agency area of Visakhapatnam district.
But, as for the diversion of forest land for Capital construction, centre wants to know more details.
Sources confirmed that centre had returned the proposal seeking more details. The queries related to the exact extent of forest land state wants to put to use for capital construction, What are the locations of the forest land sought to be de-notified and structures likely to come up in the proposed de-notified forest area etc.
Centre had reportedly said the proposal was incomplete with many gaps. As large tracts of forest land is involved, the advisory committee of ministry, which recommends the projects for clearances or otherwise, sent the proposal back to the state with queries, sources said. State government sources told telugu360.com that some activists petitioned the centre against de-notifying the forest lands in East and West Godavari districts as they thought chief minister wants to sell this lands to corporate companies to set up Industries.
The sources are,however, hopeful of convincing the centre in getting the forest lands de-notified.
