Amaravati, Jan 7 (IANS) The Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday launched the second phase of land pooling in Amaravati for various infrastructure projects in the state capital.

Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister Ponguru Narayana, along with local MLA Shravan Kumar, inaugurated the land pooling in Vaddamanu in Thullur mandal.

The authorities organised the Gram Sabha, where officials were receiving consent letters from farmers.

Vaddamanu is one of the seven villages in Thullur and Amaravati mandals where 16,666.57 acres will be pooled for projects such as a railway track, the Inner Ring Road, and an International Sports City.

A Gram Sabha for land pooling is scheduled to be held on Wednesday evening at Yendrayi village in Amaravati mandal.

Pooling has already begun for 1,900 acres in Yendrayi, with farmers voluntarily coming forward to give their lands.

Authorities have issued a notification for pooling 9,097 acres of patta land and 7 acres of assigned land in Thulluru mandal of Guntur district and 7,465 acres of patta land and 97 acres of assigned land in Amaravati mandal in Palnadu district.

At the 57th meeting of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) on Tuesday, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the progress for the second phase of land pooling.

The meeting also noted that development works in Amaravati are progressing rapidly on the 34,000 acres pooled so far.

Minister Narayana said that the construction of 4,026 government quarters, five administrative towers, the Assembly, and the High Court is being expedited to meet deadlines.

It was in November last year that the State Cabinet gave its approval for the second phase of land pooling.

An area of 16,666.57 acres will be acquired under the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 55 of the APCRDA Act.

The Chief Minister had stated in November that the current 29-village footprint is inadequate to build a metropolitan entity comparable to Hyderabad.

During an interaction with farmers from Amaravati, he had warned that if Amaravati remains confined to the existing area, it risks becoming only a municipality, not a capital-scale urban economy.

The state government has already acquired 34,000 acres under land pooling for capital development works. An additional 16,000 acres came from endowment, forest, Waqf and Poramboke lands, taking Amaravati’s footprint to 50,000 acres.

However, the proposal to acquire another 30,000 acres across 11 villages located outside the core capital grid is facing resistance from various quarters.

The government plans to build an international airport in Amaravati by acquiring an additional 30,000 acres.

–IANS

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