Are the foreign companies going to be the real land-lords of capital lands and by this would they control the economy of the emerging capital city Amaravati? If you ask the activist Srimannarayana, he would say yes.
Because, state government is planning to transfer huge swathes of land to the foreign developers of the capital city in lieu of money. State has no money to pay them, so, the government is getting ready to pay them in kind, in form land, says activist P Simannarayana.
Srimannarayan shot into fame by filing a case in National Green Tribunal against the capital Amaravati. His basic contention is that the development of Amaravati has unleashed a unprecedented ecological destruction in the area- fertile lands are taken over for the capital city, flood prone areas encroached, river banks occupied. He said the destruction would go on as the government is planning to get the another 50,000 acres of forest land denotified for the capital purpose-apparently to industrialize the capital surroundings by roping in foreign investors.
His case is coming up before the NGT on April 22. And the state government has to submit a detailed plan on water bodies and flood plains. He says what is happening in Amaravati capital region was the real estate business in the name of the development of green-field capital. In the absence of an elected body in the capital region, government is resorting to all undemocratic methods to govern the area, he adds.
“Capital is going to harm not only the environment, but also the democratic system in the area,” he told media in Vijayawada.
Pointing to the Capital City Development and Management Company (CCDM) set up by government of Andhra Pradesh, he said, the company, in which private persons and institutions would have 50 per cent stake, had been entrusted with the responsibility of deciding upon the tax, user charges and other revenue generating methods. ” This is against the very basic tenet of democracy. How can a company decide tax to be levied upon the people? Then what would be role of the elected bodies?,” he asked.
Talking about the large-scale of transfer of lands pooled from the farmers to foreign companies, Srimannarayana said this was against the Kelkar Committee recommendations to the union government. The committee appointed by the Prime Minister warned the government against the transferring the lands to the foreign companies. This caution had been thrown to the winds by the Andhra Pradesh government.
“Yesterday it was the fertile lands of farmers; Tomorrow, the forest lands, Andhra Pradesh in its blind belief in the world-class capital city is determined to transfer the land to foreign companies, unmindful of the future consequences. The state is putting pressure on centre to de-notify the precious forest land for the purpose industrialization. It will spell disaster to the state and the people,” he cautioned.
