Is Vijayawada on the fast track of development?
Will it, in the advent of the dawn of the new State, evolve as a vibrant city ala Hyderabad? Going by the bottlenecks on the thoroughfares and lack of political will, the answer is not on the affirmative.
Take a look at the wayside ‘furniture industry’ on C.K. Reddy in Poornandampet. Illegally occupying the prime place of the Irrigation Department, these 30-odd families make a living by carving furniture of all sorts, and they not only cause dust pollution but block traffic. In fact, it is an emerging slum.
These families encroached the Irrigation land long ago and what started off in a small scale industry has gradually transformed into flourishing industry, with stools, chairs, tables and other wooden furniture strewn all over the road. “We do not want to be dislocated to a faraway place like Jakkampudi where we do not get the customers,” says Pedda Raju, a carpenter.
“The road is an important link for Singhnagar, Payakapuram, Nunna, Agripalli and Nuzvid. The vehicular movement is gradually increasing and the need of the hour is clearing the bottlenecks for the free flow of traffic. The road also assumes importance for the flow of traffic is more owing to its proximity to the busy railway station,” say the locals.
Former Congress corporator and city Congress working president Meesala Rajeswara Rao says that under the Rajiv Awas Yogana (RAY), a central government programme to clear slums, a proposal was made to build a complex on the site making provision for shops in the ground floor. “The proposal is still pending with the civic authorities a new civic body should take up the issue”. He says the poor coordination between irrigation and civic body was the reason for the present frequent bottlenecks. “The construction of a regulator under Krishna delta modernization on Eluru canal led to heaps of rubble unattended thus damaging the right side of the road. For several months, the road was blocked and the traffic is moving one way. This has added to the traffic woes. Once the road is repaired and other side of the road will be functional thus easing the traffic congestion,” says Rao. CPI-M leader Ch. Babu Rao says that carpenter community belonged to Scheduled Caste and the government has several concessions for their welfare. “The best way is to build a complex on the site and streamline the industry. Driving them to the interiors will be suicidal”.
