Andhra government buildings to be inspected by IIT teams

Construction of these buildings was taken up and completed up to 10-20% by laying foundation stones and columns, before they were abandoned by the YSRCP.

The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to rope in engineering experts from Indian Institutes of Technology Madras and Hyderabad to study the structural stability of various unfinished buildings in Amaravati, which were abandoned during the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government in the last five years, the officials said.

The TDP government has taken up redevelopment of iconic buildings for the Amaravati government complex, including high court and state legislative assembly. (HT)

State municipal administration and urban development minister Ponguru Narayana said several multi-storeyed buildings constructed for providing accommodation for the secretariat employees, All India Service officers, members of the state legislative assembly and council and judicial officers, which were in various stages of construction, were left unattended for the last five years.

Similarly, the erstwhile Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government has also taken up construction of iconic buildings for the Amaravati government complex, including four state secretariat towers, a general administration department tower, high court and state legislative assembly.

Renowned architects from London – Norman and Foster – were engaged to prepare the designs for these buildings. Construction of these buildings was taken up and completed up to 10-20% by laying foundation stones and columns, before they were abandoned by the YSRCP government.

“Before the completion of these unfinished buildings, we need to study their structural stability because they might have suffered due to long exposure to natural elements. So, we have decided to take the help of IIT-Madras and IIT-Hyderabad to look into the strength of these constructions,” Narayana said.

He said while experts from IIT-Madras would test the structure stability of iconic buildings of Amaravati government complex, the other buildings meant for MLAs and MLCs, IAS and IPS officers and employees would be inspected by experts from IIT-Hyderabad.

“We are hoping to complete the testing in a couple of weeks. Depending on the reports submitted by them, the government would reach a conclusion on how to proceed with the construction of the capital city,” Narayana said.

He said the services of as many as 47 consultants, who were working for supervising the constructions in the Amaravati capital city, were withdrawn after the YSRCP came to power in May 2019.

“We need to call for fresh tenders to appoint the consultants, depending on the need,” the minister said.

He further said the AP capital region development authority (APCRDA), which was constituted to develop the capital city, was also facing staff shortage and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu would soon take a call on the action plan.

During the presentation of a white paper on Amaravati on July 3, Naidu said most of the constructions taken up in Amaravati were completed to the extent of 70-80%, while the remaining were in the beginning stages, when they were abandoned midway by the Jagan government.

“Out of the works costing ₹9,617 crore, works worth ₹1,958 crore were completed and the remaining works were pending,” he said.

He said during the five-year Jagan government, Amaravati had undergone a systematic destruction. “Unfinished buildings and roads got damaged due to long exposure to elements. There was a theft of material, gravel and iron left on the roads. There was a sharp depreciation in property prices. Wealth generation did not happen and there was a large scale migration of people to other states due to lack of work in Amaravati,” he said.

Naidu said a budgeted allocation of ₹485.32 crore granted to APCRDA also lapsed due to stoppage of works in the capital region.

“The World Bank also withdrew its proposed assistance to the extent of $300 million for the capital city, as the Jagan government did not evince interest. The Central government, too, stopped ₹1,000 crore grant for Amaravati,” he pointed out.