AP Police Command and Control Centre to come up in Vizag

The Andhra Pradesh state government, on Wednesday, gave its nod for the construction of the State Police Command and Control Centre (CCC) in Vizag. In this regard, Andhra Pradesh Principal Secretary (Home), Kumar Vishwajeet, issued a government order (GO) granting the required administrative sanction.

As per the GO, the CCC would be built in the available land owned by the AP state government in Vizag. Reportedly, the centre will be set up with an estimated budget of Rs 13.80 crore. It may be noted that the AP Police Command and Control Centre was earlier proposed to be constructed at Vijayawada. With several petitions filed related to relocation of executive capital to Vizag, construction of government guest house here in Vizag, and continuing Amaravati as the sole capital of Andhra Pradesh, pending in the courts, the state government directed the Director-General of Police (DGP) to comply with the orders of the High Court and Supreme Court, if any, to avoid legal complications in future.

Earlier in January 2021, the AP state government had announced to relocate the office of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) from Hyderabad to Vizag. As per the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, KRMB Chairman, A Paramesham, was asked to take steps to shift the office to Andhra Pradesh. Reportedly, KRMB engineer-in-chief (ENC), Narayana Reddy, was directed to identify a suitable building in Vizag to house the KRMB office.

It may be recalled that the Andhra Pradesh government has been inclined towards establishing a decentralising administration in the state. In line with this objective, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had proposed a three-capital plan in December 2019. The plan envisages executive capital in Vizag, legislative capital in Amaravati, and judicial capital in Kurnool. Mired in legal hurdles, there are reportedly close to 60 petitions in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, directly or indirectly, challenging the idea of having three capitals to the state.