Guntur: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu indicated that the first phase of capital building would be completed by June 2, 2019. Participating in Telugu News Year's Day celebrations at Ananthavaram village near Thullur on Saturday, the Chief Minister wished the people of the State, particularly the farmers of the capital city region, a prosperous New Year and a good beginning in the wake of their sacrificing their lands for building a world class capital.

Naidu, who took pride in making land pooling a success, was excited at the transformation the region is destined to witness and reiterated his commitment to the welfare of farmers who gave up their lands for the capital cause. He promised to place Andhra Pradesh on top in the country in 15 years and tried to impress the people that he alone could achieve the impossible feat of placing the State far above other States.

Setting the goals for the State himself, Naidu said by 2022 AP would be one among the top three States in the country and by 2029 it would occupy the first place with regards to development on all fronts. He expressed confidence that by 2050 it would be on the world map along with other developed States in the world.

Naidu said his vision of core capital was development of Vijayawada and Guntur as A class cities and integration of the entire stretch from Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali into one capital region and development of Machilipatnam and Nizamapatnam ports. He said he would also develop express highways connecting the two districts from all sides so that one could reach the State capital from anywhere in the region within 30 minutes.

He expressed confidence that the Central government would come to the State's rescue and create conditions for a level playing field between the States. In an indirect reference to the YSRCP, Naidu pointed out that one party in the State did not want him to supply drinking water to Rayalaseema districts through the Pattiseema project.

“Every year, 3,000 tmc ft of Godavari water is flowing wastefully into the sea. We are planning to divert 70 tmc ft of water through lifts into the Krishna river and from there via Galeru-Nagari project to Rayalaseema,” he said. “Thulluru is the best bet for capital building with 3.5 km of riverfront and a picturesque location. No capital in the world has such a long riverfront coastline,” Naidu said.

Naidu made an impassionate plea to the people of Andhra Pradesh to support his vision and mission. He asked employees in the State to set apart one percent of their salaries every month for capital building so that capital building could be fast tracked. The Chief Minister later gave away Ugadi Puraskars to several achievers in different fields including education, social service, cultural arts, employees, policemen etc.

Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, Ministers Pulla Rao, Ravella Kishore, P Narayana and Thadikonda MLA Tenali Shravan Kumar participated. Members of Parliament Galla Jayadev and Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and Chief Secretary Krishna Rao were also present.