Andhra Pradesh TDP government is not left with the only option of collecting the land from the farmers, who opposed to surrender, to complete the pre-planned road projects.
After the Central government’s approval has come for various road projects in the state, the government became busy in collecting the land, for the construction of the airports, seaports and other development activities, in the proposed capital Amaravati.
According to the Ministry of National Highways Authority (MNHA), it is the State government’s prime responsibility to hand over land for the road projects.
Centre approved TDP government road projects in Amaravati
Currently, for the Outer Ring Road project around Amaravati, officials have proposed the requirement of 7500 acres in Krishna, Guntur and West Godavari districts, within a 200-km radius.
In the beginning, the government proposed an eight-lane outer ring road for Amaravati and it was then it decided to acquire the land, but upon the opposition from the public, it had to get down. But, it has no other option now, other than convincing the people and collect the land. Along with the above, for the four lane road expansion project, in Machilipatnam-Vijayawada route, another 1000 acres of land has to be acquired.
On the other side, Rayalaseema to Bengaluru needs 10,000 acres, while the one from Tada to Itchapuram calls for another 15,000 acres.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is very keen on completing both these projects. Tada-Itchapuram road project, which is a sea-shore based one, would give a good boost to the tourism, and Amaravati-Bengaluru road project, would reduce the distance from Rayalaseema district to capital area and even develops connectivity to Bengaluru.
Along with the key projects like the above, the Centre has even approved another 13 projects, but land acquisition is expected to be easier in those areas, as the land prices are cheaper there.
MNHA significance in TDP government land pooling
However, the State government should provide land for all required road projects, using methods, such as land pooling, if necessary, with the MNHA releasing funds for the project implementation.
Speaking about it, Suresh Kumar, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project director said, “NHAI Act of 1956 should be followed for land acquisition and that if the State government took up the responsibility of acquiring land, it should do so as per their rules.”
Upon the request of Janasena Chief Pawan Kalyan, earlier, the TDP government stopped the land pooling, but as the need to implement land pooling has become inevitable, it should be seen, how the government convinces both Pawan Kalyan and the farmers.
By Phani Ch
