Foundation laid for ‘Kuchipudi Iconic Bridge’

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said the State government will develop Ibrahimpatnam region as a parallel city to Amaravati if the farmers in the area are ready to give their lands under the Land Pooling Scheme. The Chief Minister, who laid the foundation stone for the Iconic Bridge to be built across River Krishna at a cost of Rs 1,387 crore on Saturday, named it Kuchipudi Iconic Bridge.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said more iconic bridges would come up in Amaravati in the coming years.

“We are building the bridge in such a way that people across the world should come and visit it. We will also develop Ibrahimpatnam on par with Amaravati, but the farmers should come forward to give their lands like their counterparts in the capital region did. Land acquisition will take time and we don’t have money for it too. So, if the farmers voluntarily give lands, we will develop a parallel city in Ibrahimpatnam so that there will be two cities on the either side of the Krishna,” he said. 

The TDP supremo, however, assured that there would not be any coercion to acquire the lands and that no injustice would be meted out once lands are taken.

The CM said the State was offering three heritage possessions to the world. “One is Lord Venkateswara, who has temples in all the cities across the globe. We are soon going to construct one temple for the Lord in Amaravati. We will also build a mosque and a church in the capital region. The other two heritages we are offering the world are Kuchipudi and natural farming. Since Kuchipudi is our heritage wealth, I wanted to have the Iconic Bridge to reflect the dance form. Hence, we name it Kuchipudi Iconic Bridge,” he said. 
The cable-stayed bridge is expected to shorten the distance between NH 65 (Hyderabad Highway) and Amaravati by 40 kms, thus cutting down the travel time by around two hours. 

The CM, who also laid the foundation for a water treatment plant, noted that the State government was developing trunk infrastructure with `40,000 crore despite no assistance from the Centre. “The Centre hasn’t given any money. Neither do I have some. Yet, we are in the process of wealth creation. I could have compromised on the vision as suggested by a few and built administrative buildings in 250 acres of land. But, it wouldn’t have led to wealth creation,” he observed.  

“We are also building many iconic structures. We are building it in a such way that our Assembly Complex should come to the minds of people and tourists after Taj Mahal in India.”

Naidu observed that Amaravati was strategically located, through which all the major national and State highways pass through. “Twelves major roads pass through the capital region. Once we finish the bridges, it will be easy to integrate Vijayawada and Guntur,” he asserted.

Capital’s water treatment plant
Objective : To supply safe and reliable water to entire Amaravati
Capacity: 190 million litres per day
Cost: Rs 740.65 crore
Location: Krishnayapalem
Construction time: 18 months
Executing agency: NCCL td

CM said foundation stone for the Machilipatnam Port would be laid soon. Navayuga Group will execute it 
the project 
Iconic bridges will be built at Vykuntapuram, Chodavaram and other areas where reservoirs and check dams are 
proposed