Whitepaper on Amaravati ‘ruins’

Vijayawada: Undoing the destruction caused by the previous government is the major task before the new government in the state. The five-year rule of the YSRCP had been full of vindictive attitude and the scale of the destruction was such that one does not know from where and how to take off. “Such a situation arises when people elect a leader who is unfit for politics,” said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu after his first visit of Amravati capital region on Thursday.

Naidu said if the previous government had spent about Rs 400 crore on the ongoing buildings like houses for judges, ministers, MLAs and IAS and IPS officers, the works would have been completed by now. “But they have been totally neglected. After a detailed study, the government will come up with a whitepaper on the status of Amravati,” the CM said.

The main problem with restarting the works is that the tenders’ period is over. It remains to be seen if the old tenders can be revived and extended or not. Even if they can be revived, the contractors will not be able to complete the works at the old rates as the cost of construction material has gone up, he added.

What is more, the previous government had diverted the funds given by the Centre for the capital city to other schemes in the name of pressing buttons, Naidu said.

He further stated that Amaravati and Polavaram are the two important things for Andhra Pradesh and the previous YSRCP government had neglected both and immersed them in Godavari waters.

“Amaravati is a wealth creating place, but it was turned into ruins purely because of vindictive mindset of the previous government. The three-capital concept was meant only to kill Amaravati and not to develop the state,” the CM said.

Expressing concern over the plight of the structures, Naidu said in most of the flats, doors were damaged. The contractors were threatened, and concrete was stolen. He said that action will be taken on those who resorted to theft of the material in the capital region, Naidu added.

He said the people should debate if they had done the right act by allowing the YSRCP to win those 11 seats?

He said the TDP government is committed for the integrated development of all the regions. The Union government had sanctioned 12 Central institutions, but the YSRCP government had failed to extend cooperation and resorted to damaging the brand Amaravati. Naidu called upon the people to suggest how they think the government should move forward now since there was hardly any Opposition to discuss them in the Assembly.