Concerns of farmers led to Amaravati pullout: World Bank

AMARAVATI: Amidst political debate over World Bank's decision to "drop" Andhra Pradesh's upcoming capital Amaravati's infrastructure projects from its funding list, the Bank's board has now clarified that the concerns raised by farmers had a big role to play in the decision.
Making it clear that it would never extend support to any project without addressing the concerns of locals, the World Bank said the borrowing agencies need to fully comply with the laws, particularly environmental regulations.
The World Bank wanted to appoint an independent probe team to ensure that the concerns of Amaravati farmers were addressed "to their satisfaction". However, it was left with no option but to drop the project after the Centre rejected the bank's request to conduct an independent probe.