The citizens of Vijayawada can now have a breather. The lorries and trucks being parked unauthorisedly on service roads and road margins will be a passé very soon.
The officials are seriously contemplating using the Truck Terminal constructed at Ibrahimpatnam near here a decade ago. The Vijayawada Guntur Tenali Managalagiri Urban Development Authority (VGTMUDA) has taken up repair works there.
The UDA will spend around Rs. 35 lakh on jungle clearance, repair of roads, and providing basic amenities like drinking water, approach roads and providing city buses. The UDA estimated that the jungle clearance alone will cost Rs. 3.6 lakh. Remaining major works like petrol pump etc will be taken up in phase-II as soon as the transporters shift their base there. The estimates for phase-II are being worked out, UDA officials say.
The officials were waiting for a commitment from the transporters. Out of eight associations, two have given commitment, remaining agreed in principle to move to the terminal, they say.
Parking menace
The city police, on the other hand, took the menace of unauthorised parking on service roads seriously. They took up the matter with the VGTMUDA and other civic agencies. Now, challans were being slapped on the lorry drivers for blocking the roads. The traffic police, on an average, are collecting fines from 15 to 20 lorry or truck drivers daily.
The magnitude of problem is glaring at Krishnalanka service road as none is using the goods and truck terminal.
“First, we want to show an alternative to truck and lorry owners. As soon as the UDA readies the truck terminal, we will not allow unauthorised parking and entry of goods vehicles in the city,” says N. Madhusudhan Reddy, City Police Commissioner.
The UDA has spent a little more than Rs.16 crore for creating the required infrastructure and construction of shops, godowns, offices and tyre repair units. About 780 goods transporters have purchased shops, offices or godowns at the terminal.
The terminal was constructed with a view to preventing entry of heavy vehicles into the city. No space is left for pedestrians as the drivers use the road margins to park their heavy vehicles.
As a result many pedestrians are being injured in freak mishaps.
