ONGOLE: The government is committed to developing cities with population of more than 30 lakh into ‘green’ cities and the others on all fronts, Sivaramakrishnan Committee member RM Ravi has said.
The committee members visited Prakasam district Sunday and examined the VANPIC lands at Allur. They also interacted with public representatives and people at the Collectorate in Ongole.
The committee was not just responsible for selecting suitable options for capital city, but also suggesting plans for equitable distribution of development among all the regions of the state, post bifurcation. It would present its report by August-end, Ravi informed.
Transport minister Sidda Raghava Rao said that about 65,000 acres of land was available at Darsi and Donakonda. As the Nagarjuna Sagar Project (NSP) right canal was just 6 km away and Veligonda project tunnels were 20 km away, the area is suitable for setting up industries and there would be no water problem in future.
Collector GSRKR Vijay Kumar explained that 1,53,000 hectares of land in the district was not suitable for agriculture. Further, 15,000 acres of VANPIC lands and another 50,000 acres was available at Darsi and Donakonda for development. The district was well connected with road and rail network and well suited for development of ports and industries, he added.
Ongole MP YV Subba Reddy, MLAs Gottipati Ravi Kumar, P David Raju and M Ashok Reddy, TDP leader Karanam Balaramakrishna Murthy and joint collector Yakub Naik were present.