The YSRCP government has been facing continuous roadblocks in several aspects of administration ever since it came to power in 2019. There are a lot of reasons for this, and there have been several incidents as well. However, the 3 Capital issue remains to be the most controversial and insane idea that the government proposed so far.
The farmers of Amaravati who gave up their lands for the development of the Capital are all protesting for the reinstatement of Amaravati as the sole capital of Andhra Pradesh, for over 250 days now. On the other hand, the fact that Amaravati is not the sole capital of the state anymore, has caused way more problems that the government must have anticipated.
The land rates in Amaravati have significantly dropped after CM Jagan announced the 3 Capital bill. This has directly impacted the decision of the Airport Authorities of India to develop the Gannavaram Airport as an international airport. Several hundred acres of lands are required to develop Gannavaram as an international airport. As a result of this, the then TDP government struck a deal with the farmers of the neighbouring lands, and with film personalities Ashwini Dutt and Krishnam Raju, saying that they would be given lands in Amaravati, in exchange for the lands that they have given for the airport. This sounded like a fair deal back then, keeping in mind that the Amaravati lands would cost a fortune, given its Capital status at the time.
With things drastically changing right now, things have gone for a toss, with both Ashwini Dutt and Krishnam Raju filing petitions in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, asking the Government of AP, or the Airports Authority of India, to compensate them with the monetary equivalent to their lands. They have also stated that only this is when construction can begin in their lands.
On the other hand, the farmers who have agreed to give their lands for the Airport, have already begun cultivating crops and harvesting them in their lands. Looks like the AP government’s own decision is now haunting them.