More than one-and-half months after the Andhra Pradesh High Court delivered its verdict on the state capital, the work on some pending projects in Amaravati resumed on Saturday, April 23. Officials resumed the activity to complete the works on MLA and MLC quarters in Rayapudi. Workers were seen completing works like laying tiles, water pipelines and electricity cables in multi-storey buildings. The work is likely to be launched on a full scale from Monday as more workers will be joining the duties.
Amaravati farmers, who have been opposing the state government's three-capital plan, welcomed the workers by presenting them with flowers. The farmers said the intervention of the high court has done justice to them. They demanded that the government also take up works relating to the provision of basic amenities and hand them over developed plots which were promised to them in lieu of the lands taken from them.
On March 3, Andhra Pradesh High Court directed the state government to complete the implementation of the Amaravati capital city master plan in six months. The court also asked the government to hand over developed plots with all basic amenities to farmers within three months. The government was also asked not to alienate lands in Amaravati for any work other than the development of the state capital.
A bench of three judges headed by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra pronounced the judgment on 75 petitions filed by Amaravati farmers and others challenging the government's move for trifurcation of the state capital. Though the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government made it clear that it remains committed to its three-capital policy, it decided to complete some works which could be required to continue Amaravati as a legislative capital.
The YSRCP government on November 22, 2021, repealed two laws enacted last year to create three state capitals but announced that it will come out with a new comprehensive legislation. The Assembly passed Andhra Pradesh Decentralization and Inclusive Development of all Regions Repeal Bill 2021. The Bill repealed the Andhra Pradesh Decentralization and Inclusive Development of all Regions Act 2020 and the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region development Authority Repeal Act 2020 Act.
The government, however, had made it clear that it had not gone back on the decision to have administrative, legislative and judicial capitals at Visakhapatnam, Amaravati and Kurnool respectively. The development had come as the high court was to resume hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the two legislations made in 2020.
After coming to power in 2019, YSRCP had reversed the decision of the previous TDP government to develop Amaravati as the only state capital. This had triggered massive protests from farmers and landowners of Amaravati, who had given 33,000 acres of land for the capital and were hoping to reap its economic benefits.
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