Vijayawada: The committee that Andhra Pradesh government appointed to identify suitable transit accommodation, including a camp office for Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and accommodation for senior functionaries in Visakhapatnam, has recommended that the newly constructed tourism resorts on Rushikonda hill could be used as CM’s camp office in Vizag.
At a meeting in the Tadepalli camp office late on Tuesday, the committee revealed that five buildings have been identified for the Chief Minister's camp office and accommodation. They are Andhra University Distance Education, Open University Blocks, VMRDA Buildings in Siripuram and Millennium A and Millennium B towers, apart from tourism resorts in Rushikonda.
The committee considered all aspects of the CM's camp office, accommodation, adequate rooms for meetings with officials and facilities for security personnel. Further, it should not cause traffic inconvenience or affect citizens' safety.
In view of the traffic, university buildings have not been considered, as that could disturb the academic activities of the university.
Officials said there is a large amount of traffic in the VMRDA area, with many business establishments around. This could pose issues related to security.
Moreover, there is no proper accommodation available nearby. Some companies are already running in one of the Millennium Towers. The second tower is also suitable for offices, but cannot be a residential accommodation for the CM.
Thus, the officials narrowed down on buildings built for resorts at the Rushikonda as being most suitable for the CM's camp office. Officials said the location of these buildings will not disturb citizens. There would be no problems of traffic. The area has sufficient parking, office and accommodation space for CM’s secretaries as well as security personnel. The helipad set up by the previous government is also nearby.
The committee underlined that various government departments and offices are already spread over 2,27,287 square feet in Visakhapatnam. Necessary camp offices for senior officers can be set up among them. Rest of the officers can have their offices in the available 1,75,516 feet area in the Millennium Tower on IT Hill.
Incidentally, the committee has identified some private buildings for some officials and their offices, totalling to 3,98,600 square feet. Further, 8,01,403 square feet is available in government and private buildings for accommodating senior government officials.