VIJAYAWADA: There was no disagreement over choosing Vijayawada as capital of Andhra Pradesh and in fact the K Sivarama Krishnan Committee has recommended it as the administrative capital, said Dr. Jagan Shah, one of the member of its member. Shah presently working as director of National Institute of Urban Affairs came to Vijayawada to deliver Yarlagadda Sreeramulu 14th endowment lecture. 

Interacting with TOI, Shah clarified that the reason for suggesting alternatives in the final report was because the Union government gave a mandate to the committee to look for the government land availability for the new capital. Though Vijayawada is an ideal choice to pick for the capital, there is hardly government land available for a new city to build. 

The option of land acquisition was completely ruled out as it is next to impossible vast amount of land that is required for the construction of a new city. So keeping in view of the mandate given by the government and the practical problems associated in finding the land we have suggested to dis integrate the development of the city by keeping Vijayawada as administrative capital. 

Hyderabad city has become a bone of contention during the bifurcation only because all institutions and the associated development has happened in centralised manner at one place. So keeping the past experiences in mind, we have recommended to decentralise the development across the state keeping Vijayawada as administrative capital. 

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