Experts suggest green capital for Andhra Pradesh

Experts have suggested construction of a green capital for Andhra Pradesh, as the State can now embark on the opportunity and challenge of building such a city.

The suggestion was made at the two-day seminar on the effect of emissions and effluents on environment (EEEE - 2014) organised by Andhra University College of Engineering. State Minister for HRD G Srinivasa Rao in the inaugural on Monday said that the suggestions of the experts would be considered while building the new capital of the State.

A session was devoted to the subject in the seminar and experts sought to clear certain misconceptions on the issue. J Satya Sai Kumar, from Curtin University (Perth, Australia), said a green capital should not be confused with a greenfield capital. “It does not mean building up one-time structure or structures but a continuous process of building the capital on a sustainable basis with the available local resources and keeping it going,” he said.

He said the Andhra Pradesh government should aim at building such a green capital. He said certain points should be borne in mind in building such a city. “The city should be based on renewable energy sources and it should be carbon-neutral. It should also be a bio-philic city such as Singapore. It should be eco-efficient and a smart city. The character of the city should be based on the local culture. Sustainable transport should be the most important element,” he explained.

Sai Kumar said it would not be difficult to build such a city and it would not take a long time either. Innovative financing methods can also be tried, by roping in some of the stakeholders who stand to gain by the city, he suggested.

CV Chalapathi Rao, from the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), said the Andhra Pradesh Government had made it clear that decentralisation would be its main objective in developing the State and therefore there would not be any concentration of all the industries or institutions in the capital, “a mistake made once in the case of Hyderabad as the capital of the united state of Andhra Pradesh.” He commended the idea of a green capital, “as countries like South Africa have three capitals.” Similarly, Andhra Pradesh could have an administrative capital, economic capital and other cities of equal importance.

“A city should be built on the local, sustainable resources, keeping in mind the established ecological principles, and it should merge with the landscape,” he said and added that a model could be prepared along those lines.

Architect Y Narasimha Rao and others spoke on the issue.