Andhra's new capital still under-construction even as deadline for relocation nears

Amaravati: In exactly 12 days from Wednesday, Andhra Pradesh government’s offices are supposed to relocate from Hyderabad to the state’s transitional headquarters at Velagapudi in the capital region but not a single block of the new buildings under construction is ready. But Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu exuded confidence that everything would be in place by 27 June to move “at least some offices” to the transitional headquarters. [caption id=“attachment_2836754” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu. AP[/caption] “On the 22nd we will notify the Secretariat departments that need to shift here in the first round,” the Chief Minister said after inspecting the construction activity in Amaravati this afternoon. Already, offices of some heads of departments started moving to the capital region in Guntur and Vijayawada, he pointed out. Two days ago, the government had issued guidelines for the relocation of government staff from Hyderabad to Amaravati but did not specify the secretariat departments that would shift. In the meantime, the two construction majors — Shapoorji Pallonji and L&T — informed state Chief Secretary Satya Prakash Tucker that construction of the six blocks (of one lakh sqft each) would be completed only by August. The original deadline set for them ended on Wednesday. Following this, the Chief Secretary announced that shifting of secretariat departments would be possible only by August. When asked about this, the Chief Minister remained evasive and only said they would announce on 22 June the departments that would shift in the first round on 27 June. “When you are constructing a house, everything will not be ready at a time,” Chandrababu remarked. When pointed out that there is no proper road to reach the transitional headquarters, he said foundation for a new road would be laid on 20 June. “We will first create one approach and later develop other roads according to the master plan,” the CM added.