Amaravati: Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development P Narayana on Tuesday said that all construction work in Amaravati was progressing rapidly. He stated that despite “conspiracies” from various quarters, the capital city would be completed within three years.

After inspecting construction sites, including the Sakhamuru Reservoir, Kondaveeti Vagu, and Anantavaram Park, the minister addressed the media. He challenged critics who claimed no work was happening, to visit the sites themselves.

“Tenders for government buildings in Amaravati were finalised and work began between 2014 and 2019,” Narayana said. “The previous government’s ‘three capitals game’ completely ruined this progress. They created confusion about the location of the capital and troubled farmers.”

The minister explained that the new government closed old tenders, settled financial issues, and was moving forward after an IIT expert review of existing structures. “All construction work has restarted. We will complete 4,000 residential units for officials and employees by the end of March next year,” he announced.

The minister added that road and drainage work was nearing completion, and IIT experts would finalize the designs for layout roads by the end of this month.

To prevent flooding, canal designs were prepared with the help of Dutch officials. The work includes widening and deepening the Kondaveeti Vagu (23.6 km), Palavagu (16.5 km), and a gravity canal (7.843 km), for a total of 47.94 km of canals, he said.

While recent rains have slightly slowed progress on the canals, Narayana stated that these projects, initially targeted for completion by October 2027, are now expected to be finished by the end of next year.

The minister addressed pending issues with farmers’ lease payments. He said that while funds have been credited to most of the 25,000 farmers, payments for approximately 900 farmers are on hold due to various reasons, such as incorrect bank account details, deaths, or land sales. He said that these cases are being reviewed and encouraged farmers to file complaints on the official website if they have not received their payments.

Narayana also touched upon Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s recent visit to Singapore. He mentioned that the previous government’s actions had damaged relations with Singapore.