Farmers’ panel asks Andhra CM Jagan to start Amaravati development

The joint action committee (JAC) of Amaravati has changed its slogan from ‘Save Amaravati’ to ‘Build Amaravati’ to demand the development of the State capital city by the Andhra Pradesh government after 800 days of strife in that regard.

The JAC met in Guntur on Saturday and decided on its future course of action in the light of the recent verdict of the High Court directing the government to develop Amaravati as the capital city.

JAC convenor Puvvada Sudhakar Reddy and others, who took part in the meeting, demanded that the Jagan Mohan Reddy regime honour the verdict and start the developmental work forthwith.

“Not only the farmers, who gave up their land for the capital, but also the people of the region stood for Amaravati. The High Court verdict was in favour of the farmers and the people. The government should honour it,” they said.They said their slogan would henceforth be ‘Build Amaravati’ and the agitation camps in the villages would continue.

“We will take a call on the agitation when the government begins the development works,” they added.

Farmers of Amaravati region have been on a warpath since December 2019 when the Chief Minister announced his plans to have three capitals for the State. They fought a long legal battle and won but the Sstate government only stalled the developmental works in Amaravati since June 2019.

On March 3, the High Court ruled that the State Legislature lacked competence to make any legislation for shifting, bifurcating or trifurcating the capital thereby putting paid to Jagan’s plans to have three different capitals.

Besides directing the State government and the Capital Region Development Authority to construct and develop Amaravati and the capital region within six months, the court ordered them to complete the infrastructural development like roads, drinking water, drainage and electricity within one month.

The Jagan government, however, still remains indecisive on its course of action

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