One crore trees to be cut for Amaravathi?

Adding to the growing voices of concern over the AP's upcoming new capital of Amaravathi, a BBC report raised questions as to whether the upcoming city is a boon or a bane for the people. A report by author-scribe Sriram Karri published in the BBC website said Amaravathi was causing growing disquiet among the farmers, who are losing the lands. Moreover, the new capital city could be a recipe for ecological disaster.

The author argues that the development, proposed by the chief minister is one-sided and quotes farmers'leader M Harindranath Chowdary, was one-sided. "This benefits corporates and businesses at our expense,"Chowdary said.

The author also points out that Chief MInister Naidu has aked the Centre to release over 20000 hectares of additional reserve forests around the capital. Quoting an unnamed forest official, he says this is violative of the Forest Conservation Act. At least a crore plants would be cut in the coming few months. All this is an invitation to an ecological disaster, says the author, quoting an anonymous forest official.