VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has directed officials to transform Amaravati into the country’s largest lung space city, under the green ‘Amaravati in Nature’.
During a review meeting on the Amaravati Beautification and Green-Blue Master Plan at the Secretariat on Thursday, Naidu emphasised the development of trunk roads, connecting roads, LPS layouts, buffer zones, and plantation of medicinal herbs, indigenous tree species and seasonal flowering trees to foster a lush, eco-friendly urban environment. He instructed officials to undertake avenue plantations along all roads and to create international-standard parks and green zones.
Parks should be named after different countries and feature flora native to those regions. Roads should be named in harmony with nature.
He urged officials to study successful urban models from Bengaluru and Singapore, and suggested consulting yoga guru Baba Ramdev for guidance on cultivating medicinal plants. Naidu also envisioned growing native species from across India, from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari, within Amaravati.
Highlighting the need for accessible, high-quality housing, Naidu recommended replicating Singapore’s Bidadari Housing Project, which spans 250 acres and houses 10,000 residents amid tree-lined surroundings.
Naidu also emphasised the aesthetic development of Kondaveeti Vagu, Palavagu, and the canal systems, along with cycling tracks along major roads. Officials from the Amaravati Development Corporation (ADC) informed him that a 50-acre reservoir at Shakamuru is under development, and plans are underway to convert six islands upstream of the Prakasam Barrage into scenic riverfront zones.
Naidu concluded by stating that Undavalli Hill, centrally located in Amaravati, should be planted with flowering trees to resemble a floral forest.