The farmers expressed serious concern over the recent statement made by state minister for municipal administration and urban development Botsa Satyanarayana that Amaravati, being a flood-prone area was not a suitable place for a capital city and the government would soon come out with a decision on the location of the capital.

“It is not correct to think about shifting the capital from Amaravati on the ground that it is a flood-prone area. Never in the past were our villages inundated even when there were heavy rains and floods in Krishna river. In fact, many big cities are on the banks of major rivers. We have given our lands to the government in full faith that it will develop into a world-class capital,” T Sivarama Gupta, a farmer from Amaravati said.1

The farmers also told the BJP president that the work on the capital city had come to a grinding halt and they had not been paid yet the annuity of Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 per acre for this year. “This is causing a lot of concern for us and we have no other means of livelihood,” another farmer K Satyanarayana said.

  • 1. Another farmer Narendra Babu said they had not dealt with any particular political party but the government. “We believed the previous TDP government and gave away 33,000 acres of land under land pooling for the capital city. Now, we want the present YSR Congress government to continue the work on the capital city. We have not been able to get proper sleep and are feeling tense ever since the minister hinted at shifting of the capital to a different location,” he said.