A day after the Andhra Pradesh government hinted at dropping Amaravati as state capital citing flood threat, Union minister of state for home affairs G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday said the Centre has got nothing to do with the issue, as it does not come under its purview.
Kishan Reddy said any decision on the capital has to be taken by the state government.
Interacting with mediapersons here after inaugurating the second block in ESI Hospital, the minister said: “Location of the capital will be decided by the state government and the Centre has no locus standi.”
The minister was responding to queries on the buzz over a possible change in location of Andhra Pradesh’s capital.
He was reacting in reference to a statement a day prior by AP municipal minister Botsa Satyanarayana who said, “I feel that the Sivarama-krishnan committee report is correct, when it felt and opined that Amaravati was not safe as a capital.”
Mr Satyanarayana had also said that there was a need to debate on the Sivaramakrishnan committee report again.
He said that while construction costs Rs 1 lakh in normal areas, it was double in for one in Amaravati. This means public money gets misused. In Amaravati, several places get submerged once it rains, and therefore to mitigate this risk, the State government has to dig new canals and construct new dams.
Mr Satyanarayana’s statement has generated much heat in political circles.