The hullabaloo on Amaravati, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh, has subsided following the recent developments like Godavari boat tragedy and suicide of former assembly speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao.
But very soon, the debate over the capital is bound to come back again. So, what is in the minds of YSR Congress party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy?
Definitely, Jagan is not going to follow the Singapore-model of capital city envisaged by his predecessor N Chandrababu Naidu. There would be no more nine theme cities, no high-rise buildings, no flyovers and no Mahishmati-type designs.
Accordings to the talk doing rounds in the administrative circles, Jagan will run the show from the existing facilities – assembly and secretariat at Velagapudi, high court at Nelapadu and Raj Bhavan at Vijayawada.
So, the so-called interim complexes constructed by Naidu will become permanent structures, which would be provided with better facilities.
The problem is coming from farmers who had given away their lands under land pooling for the capital city.
Jagan is planning to develop their plots by providing infrastructure facilities like roads, drainage and electricity facilities so that they would be happy as their developed plots would fetch better price.
He will complete the trunk roads, seed access roads and the ongoing residential complexes for employees, IAS officers and judges. However, this exercise requires Rs 16,500 crore, which would be spent over a period of time.
For now, the chief minister does not want more on Amaravati in this term. With empty coffers, he is not ready for the grandiose plans of Naidu, which would have pushed the state into a debt trap.