Amaravati's second life and the future of urbanisation
Amaravati's second life formally began Friday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching projects worth ₹58,000 crore. Though envisaged in 2014 as Andhra Pradesh's new capital after the bifurcation of the state, it became a victim of the bitter political rivalry between TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu and YSR Congress boss, YS Jaganmohan Reddy. Naidu, who won the first assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh after the bifurcation, had envisaged Amaravati not just as a modern, climate-resilient, renewable-energy-driven city but also as his legacy. The latter aspect, perhaps, explains why Reddy, after ousting Naidu from office in 2019, scrapped the capital city project and proposed a three-capital plan as an alternative: Visakhapatnam, Amaravati and Kurnool were to be developed as the executive, legislative and judicial capitals respectively. The Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down the idea, but the government continued the legal battle. The return of Naidu to office in 2024 led to a revival of the project, with the Centre and World Bank agreeing to fund it. Hopefully, Amaravati, once a thriving centre of Buddhist learning, will now rise along the Krishna, on schedule and without any more cost overruns.
The building of Amaravati will be closely watched for multiple reasons. India's old cities are bursting at their seams with continuing migration from rural areas. New urban centres will need to be built to accommodate the migrants even as existing cities are redeveloped. Can Amaravati provide a blueprint for this transition? The Amaravati model of land acquisition, wherein the government convinced close to 24,000 farmers to pool in at least 34,000 acres of fertile land to build the city, is in itself unique. The city has also been conceived as an urban space with a low carbon footprint. Post Independence, cities such as Chandigarh, Gandhinagar, Dispur, and most recently, Naya Raipur, were planned and built as administrative capitals. Amaravati is meant to be an improvement on this model. How it turns out will impact not just Andhra Pradesh, but also the course of urbanisation in India.
Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines to 100 year archives.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
16 minutes ago
- Hans India
Polavaram will be completed by 2027
Eluru: Water Resources Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu on Tuesday inspected the Polavaram project works at the field level and conducted a review of the works. On the occasion, he measured the diaphragm wall panel thickness in the presence of journalists and showed that it was 1.5 metres. He said in a press release that the propaganda of a Telugu daily that the diaphragm wall panel thickness had been reduced to 0.9 meters was wrong. He alleged that the 'anti-development' YSRCP does not want the Polavaram project to be completed. Minister Ramanaidu said that the project work is progressing at a rapid pace as per the time-bound schedule taken jointly by the CWC, irrigation officials and construction agencies under the leadership of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. The minister said that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has already inspected the Polavaram project works at the field level three times. He said that Naidu himself is reviewing the Polavaram works every 15 days in the Secretariat. He expressed confidence that the target of completing the diaphragm wall construction this year is going to be achieved. He explained that more than 80 percent of the Polavaram head works have already been completed. The minister clarified that there is no compromise on quality in the construction of the Polavaram project. He once again clarified that the coalition government, with the support of Prime Minister Modi, under the capable leadership of Naidu, will complete the Polavaram project by December 2027. Polavaram MLA Balaraju, Polavaram constituency TDP in-charge Boragam Srinivas, Irrigation Advisor M Venkateswara Rao, ENC Narasimhamurthy, Megha Engineering Director Subbaiah, and other irrigation officials and agency representatives participated in this visit.
India Today
17 minutes ago
- India Today
RT-PCR test mandatory for ministers before meeting PM amid Covid surge: Sources
An RT-PCR test has been made compulsory for ministers meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as active Covid-19 cases in the country crossed the 7,000 mark today, sources told India Today 70 BJP functionaries from Delhi -- including the Delhi Chief Minister, all seven MPs, and MLAs -- who are scheduled to meet Prime Minister Modi at his residence this evening, will undergo an RT-PCR test, sources the BJP's victory in the Delhi Assembly polls, PM Modi has invited all state party leaders for dinner at 7:30 pm. According to the official statement released by the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday, the country has witnessed 306 fresh cases and six deaths in the past 24 three deaths have been recorded in Kerala, Maharashtra (1) and Karnataka (2) are the only states to have reported the remaining deaths during the same has seen the highest single-day jump, reporting 170 fresh cases. Meanwhile, Gujarat has recorded 114 new infections and 1,223 active cases, followed by Karnataka, which has logged 100 new cases, as per the recorded 66 fresh cases in the last 24 hours and the city's total caseload reached 757, the Health Ministry overall picture is no different, with Kerala leading the tally as its total active cases crossed the 2,000 mark, followed by Gujarat, West Bengal and a rise in Covid cases, the Centre has launched mock drills across the nation to assess hospital preparedness. It has further directed states to ensure an adequate supply of oxygen, isolation beds, ventilators, and essential officials maintain that most cases are mild in Watch
The Print
35 minutes ago
- The Print
PM Modi pays tribute to Sant Kabir Das on birth anniversary
New Delhi, Jun 11 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday paid tribute to mystic poet and saint Kabir Das on his birth anniversary, and said his contribution in removing the evils prevalent in the society will always be remembered with reverence. 'My heartfelt tributes to Sant Kabir Das Ji on his birth anniversary, who devoted his whole life towards social harmony. While there is simplicity of words in his couplets, there is also depth of emotions,' Modi said in a post in Hindi on X.
