'Decentralise growth'

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, Nov 10, 213: With Hyderabad becoming a contentious issue in division of the state, people are of an opinion that the union government should plan cluster development by creating more growth corridors.

Parting with Hyderabad, the only developed city in the entire state, has turned a sticky issue and people in Seemandhra argue that it is not fair, as they too have invested in its development.

The development should be decentralised. Growth should be scattered in different cities in Seemandhra to prevent another Hyderabad-like situation, said Uttarandhra Rakshana Vedika president S.S. Shivasankar.

BJP national executive member Kambhampati Haribabu felt that the union government should come up with growth corridors along  Visakhapatnam – Kakinada, Kakinada – Eluru, Eluru – Guntur, Ongole – Nellore – Tirupati, Anantapur – Kurnool for future development.

“All the adminstrative bodies like the legislative Assembly, Secretariat, quarters for ministers and legislators should be at one place and the High Court can be in another city or town,” he said. Secretaries of various departments can stay in the capital but offices of heads of various departments can be located at different places.

For example, the headquarters for endowment can be at Tirupati, fisheries at Kakinada, agriculture at Anantapur and ports at Visakhapatnam.

“Decentralisation should not pose any problem to smooth adminstration as many facilities like video conferencing are available,” said Haribabu.

He also suggested that the location of the new capital should be finalised in three months after bifurcation and the construction of buildings must begin forthwith. “The provision of 10-year common capital might lead to different problems,” he added.