City: Amaravati

Launched amid much fanfare during the previous political regime, the greenfield Amaravati project has fallen apart. With it have disappeared all promises made to farmers who had pooled in land — rent of Rs. 50,000 per acre for ten years, jobs for family members, reimbursement of children’s education fees etc

After World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank withdrew from the project, all construction in Amaravati has come to a halt. The new YSR Congress government has also announced its intention to probe into complaints of mismanagement in the project.

Is it possible to ‘pool land’, share it as a common resource and build an entire city on this ideal imagination? Divya Dua looks at the Amaravati model and what it has to offer.