A Case For Multiple Capitals-Andhra Pradesh

A Case For Multiple Capitals-Andhra Pradesh

Multiple Capitals-Andhra Pradesh - Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy hinted that the South African model of three capitals was best suited in his State and that his government would work towards this.

• Mr Reddy’s idea seems to stem from the reasoning that a distribution of executive, legislative and judicial governance across Visakhapatnam, Amaravati (the current capital) and Kurnool would allow for “a decentralised development of the State”. 

Background

• The division of Andhra Pradesh, with its former region Telangana becoming India’s 29th state in 2014, has led to squabbling among the 13 districts on which will host the new capital. 
• Amaravati, which still requires significant development, has become a functioning State capital for all purposes now.
• Previous Andhra government had almost zeroed in on the Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Managalgiri (VGTM) region as the location for the capital.
• To facilitate site selection, the Government of India appointed an Expert Committee under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, headed by K.C. Sivaramakrishnan.
• The terms of reference included ensuring the least possible dislocation to existing agriculture systems, preservation of local ecology, promoting environmentally sustainable growth, minimising the cost of construction and acquisition of land and so on.
• K.C. Sivaramakrishnan panel recommendations
  • It had argued against the need for a greenfield capital city and to instead focus on distributing locations of governance beyond the Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri urban area while utilising the time period of 10 years to continue functions from Hyderabad after bifurcation. 
  • It said that building the capital in VGTM is likely to put a strain on infrastructure and possibly lead to unplanned expansion of urban areas. 
  • They also pointed out that fertile agricultural land in Krishna, Guntur and West Godavari districts, which together account for over 1% of the country’s rice production, would be usurped for infrastructure development if the capital came up in this region.
  • It will also adversely affect the development prospects of other areas in Andhra by sucking much private and speculative capital into the area.

Concept of multiple capitals - The concept of two capital cities is not uncommon: nearly 15 countries across the world have multiple capitals. For instance, Bolivia, Georgia and the Netherlands have two capitals! South Africa has three capitals — Bloemfontein, Cape Town, and Pretoria — that house it’s judicial, legislative and executive branches. Indian States/UTs With ‘Second’ Capital Maharashtra: The winter session of the state legislature is held in Nagpur. It doesn’t have any legal status as a capital.” Himachal Pradesh: As of now, the winter session of the state legislature is held in Dharamshala. A Case for shifting India’s capital: With Delhi hit by severe pollution there have been demands to shift capital out of Delhi. Shifting the capital in the south might also help change the perception of the north being favoured.

Arguments in Favour of having multiple Capitals:

• Correct Asymmetric Federalism: There is a need to accommodate diversity not only between states but also within states. 

• In this context, there is a case for some states to consider the possibility of having more than one capital to accommodate the needs of distinct regions. 

Arguments against having multiple capitals:

• Multiple capitals hamper administrative efficiency: Prerequisites for India's development are strongly associated with close inter-ministerial & departmental links which inevitably require spatial integration nevertheless of enhanced digital communications. E.g Chandigarh which is the capital of prosperous Punjab and Haryana states, has one of the highest per capita income, thanks to synchronization of govt.’s civic machinery.
• The burden on finances - Sustaining so many capitals altogether along with developing effective linkages between them does not seem to be financially viable especially when GST revenues are declining and states are contending for increased compensation. 
• The threat to food security due to urban sprawling: Accelerated urbanisation driven by multiple capitals may increase urban sprawls which could threaten food supplies at a time when food production is already not keeping up with population growth.
• Slum problem: Simultaneous Rapid urbanisation at multiple places in a state can result in an explosion of informal urban settlements, or slums.

Concerns with urbanisation in India: If China is a nation of boom cities, India is emerging as a land of creaking megacities, surrounded by small towns. The result is that India has a serious imbalance in its economic geography, with too few second cities, growing too slowly.

• A large number of highly-populated cities: 17% of India’s urban population lives in four megacities, a higher share than in China, where just 12% of the urban population lives in a total of six megacities.
• Failure in developing 2nd tier cities: India has a severe problem developing second-tier cities, which reflects some of the nation’s basic flaws, including a state that meddles too much, and a track record of spending too much on subsidies and too little on building factories and ports, the anchors of modern urban development.
• Problems with CBDs: Core physical infrastructure is a major concern. Some of the other key challenges plaguing CBDs include safety and security, parking, traffic congestion and weak public transport networks. 
• Flawed SEZ policy: India tried to create SEZs on the China model, but these zones have restrictive rules on the use of land and labour, so they have done little to create jobs or build urban populations. 
• India’s outdated building codes discourage development in downtown areas and drive up prices, which is one reason average urban land prices are now twice as high in India as in China, according to the Global Property Guide. 
• Unused airports: There are now 25 airports in India that stand unused because they were built to serve cities that were expected to expand, but haven’t. 

Challenges with spatial development in India:

• Retrofitting:  While retrofitting is a common approach adopted for densely congested cities such as Mumbai and Delhi, replanning existing infrastructure, road networks and utility provisions are some major challenges, and hence cities tend to continue to develop in a haphazard manner
• Overcrowding:  Overcrowding in CBDs is a common phenomenon as businesses try and move closer together to increase throughput. However, this often leads to overcrowding on roads, buildings and public transport 
• Transportation: Availability of adequate transportation in cities is a major challenge. Road networks often get blocked due to overcrowding and public transport networks get choked due to the heavy influx of people. 
• Sustainable consumption: Sustainable consumption becomes difficult when overcrowding occurs because every entity in a CBD is there to run a profitable business or to lead a high-quality life and leads to heavy consumption of energy, water, electricity, fuel and land 
• Urban sprawl in India is linked to a number of potentially distortive land use regulations, most notably vertical limits in the form of Floor Area Ratios and the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act of 1976, which is claimed to hinder intra-urban land consolidation and restrict the supply of land available for development within cities.
• Criticism of Urban area criterion: There is the complexity associated with suburban or peri-urban areas.

• Bureaucratic procedures associated with redrawing municipal boundaries as cities and towns: Local officials have to report such land-use changes through the office of the deputy commissioner or district magistrate and then open up the proposed changes to a period of public consideration that invariably results in delays and can even halt adjustments. 
• Ignoring peri-urbanisation – the expansion of India’s metropolitan areas – stands out as one of the most striking features associated with India’s spatial development.
• Land market regulations limiting floor-area ratios in Mumbai have exacerbated urban sprawl, resulting in inefficiently low densities near the city centre. Such policies may constrict the social benefits associated with urbanisation. 

Way forward

For Andhra Pradesh, there is no need to destroy hundreds of square kilometres of real greenery to build an unreal ‘green-field’ fantasy and destabilise a vibrant and entrepreneurial rural economy.

• Future research must focus on understanding the drivers, and consequences, of city growth in shaping the spatial allocation of resources, people, and economic activity.
• Separating at least one government’s branch: Indian states can follow Germany where the executive and legislative capital is Berlin, but the judicial branch of the government is divided between Karlsruhe and Leipzig.
• Given the advances in communications technology, it is not important to locate everyone in the same place. We also have multiple judiciary benches in some states for the sake of efficiency.
• Improving physical infrastructure: In the physical infrastructure space, transport ecosystem, parking and safety are the most critical aspects for citizens. 
• Social infrastructure: the availability of healthcare facilities in and around CBDs, educational and childcare facilities requires improvement. 
• Retrofitting: Since the land parcels for the development of new offices in prime locations are scarce, the options available for rejuvenating CBDs are retrofitting and redevelopment. 
• Centralised building management system: A centralised building management system will help to connect various aspects of building operations such as surveillance, water connection and supply, electricity meters and lift and parking 
• A smart grid, Smart communication, and Smart surveillance: it integrates an electrical grid with ICT tools that can be used to communicate with local substations, monitors demand, regulates supply, adapts to changes in consumption and keeps track of it on a real-time basis. 
• PPP Partnerships: City administrators will have to forge strong partnerships with private organisations, nongovernmental organisations, universities, funding agencies and entrepreneurs in order to derive an operating model that could work for CBDs. 
• Citizen participation: In case of CBDs, citizen participation will come through engagement with the businesses and their employees.
• Leadership commitment: Successful execution of an urban development initiative will depend on committed leadership from the civic body’s elected representatives and administrative staff.