AP Capital: Singapore experts doubt soil strength?

• A team conducted soil analysis in Thulluru, Rayapudi and Mandamam
• It reportedly expressed reservations over building skyscrapers on black cotton soil
• Also said to have pointed out presence of non-potable groundwater in the area
• Already, farmers are seething over the land pooling policy of the government

Vijayawada: A team of architects from Singapore is understood to have expressed reservations over feasibility of building skyscrapers in the new capital region, saying the soil is not suitable for such heavy construction activity.

Reliable sources said that the team conveyed its impressions to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and wanted the government to do thorough studies before going ahead with the decision to build the capital city in Thulluru mandal in Guntur district.

Thulluru is being projected as the focal point for the capital city. The architects went around the proposed areas for the capital in the first week of November, on the invitation of the Chief Minister. They collected soil samples from different places in Thulluru, Rayapudi and Mandamam villages, shortly before Naidu embarked on his visit to Singapore.

It was learnt that the architects were analysing the soil samples even as the Chief Minister was on a whirlwind tour in Singapore to study the development in the city state.

Naidu held consultations with government representatives and former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. He sought their support to build capital city.

The architects who have of late completed thorough analysis of the soil types are believed to have advised the government against building skyscrapers on the black cotton soil. “There is no rocky bed in the ground and it is not advisable to build skyscrapers. The soil is covered with water at some depth,” they are believed to have told the officials.

The architects are also understood to have told the officials that “There is a rocky bed in the ground on the other side of the river at Paritala in Krishna district.”

It is also believed that they pointed out that besides the soil, the groundwater in Thulluru and its surrounding villages is also not potable. An official report of the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) on the soil and groundwater tables in Guntur district says that the soil in Thulluru and Amaravathi mandals is in alluvium (a deposit of sandy silt) formation.

Meanwhile, the real estate sector which got wind of the recommendations of the expert time is shell-shocked. A realtor from Vijayawada said on condition of anonymity that: “I don’t know how far it is true. But political circles are agog with the report.”