With the State government busy reviewing the metro rail project planned for the city, the fate of the much-awaited alternative road and bridge projects hangs in the balance. Though the city has been yearning for more roads, and bridges over the three canals for decades, lack of budget and several other constraints forced the civic authorities to hold back the projects.
Only after the finalisation of metro rail project in 2016 the need for diversion of traffic on M.G. Road and Eluru Road above which the two metro rail corridors are supposed to pass, the expansion of city roads and construction of new bridges gained importance.
A high-power committee of the Amaravati Metro Rail Corporation that examined the city suggested the development of three major roads, eight bridges and two subways at a cost of ₹152 crore. All these works, especially the bridges, serve as permanent infrastructure for the city.
At present, the civic body is in a dilemma over the project as there is no clarity on the final designs of the metro corridors. If the alignment of the corridors changes, the city plans should also be re-examined and changed to facilitate metro rail works in future. “We are also doubtful over the sanctioned projects and there is no clarity as of now. Higher authorities are examining various plans but there is no active work going on,” a senior official of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation told The Hindu .
Compensation issue
“Also, there is an issue over project cost. Apart from construction cost, the government or the civic body has to compensate the property owners who part with their land to facilitate road expansion. It may run into several crores,” the official said.
The sanctioned development works to facilitate metro works include Ayush Hospital-Ramavarapadu Ring road, M.G. Road-Skew Bridge road via Yanamalakuduru Road and Ballem Vari street-NH road. Other works include three bridges over Bandar, four canal-crossing bridges near Police Control Room junction, one bridge near Alankar Centre and two subways connecting Madhura Nagar and Vambay Colony.
Incidentally, few of these projects are part of civic body’s plans for the city. The public too demanded them so that traffic woes ease and connectivity is improved to their areas. But the cash-strapped civic body was unable to create the needed infrastructure. The State government, which gave administrative sanction, also suggested that VMC borrow ₹152 crore from HUDCO for the lowest interest rate and promised to extend sovereign guarantee for the loan. The municipal council, however, refused to do so citing lack of funds and asked the AMRC to bear the cost of the project.
