The erstwhile Anakapalle and Bheemunipatnam municipalities will continue to manage their financial resources in spite of their merger with GVMC.
Anakapalle with a population of 86,612 as per the 2011 census has a revenue of about Rs. 14 crore. Beach-side Bheemunipatnam with historic significance is relatively smaller with a population of 54,862 and has a revenue of Rs.5 crore to Rs.6 crore.
“Until the merger is complete in all respects duly following the processes required, they will continue to manage their resources,” Municipal Commissioner M.V. Satyanarayana told The Hindu . Together with the combined population of the GVMC 17.3 lakh and the 10 gram panchayats (26,086), the total population comes to nearly 19 lakh. Going by the norms, for 10 lakh population the number of wards should be 63 wards and for every 50,000 population above that one ward will be added. That makes the total number of wards 81, nine more than the present number.
“The demarcation of wards begins from the north-east part of Bheemunipatnam. It is taken up under the supervision of Additional Commissioner (General) K. Ramesh. It is a long process and takes two to three months. After that objections will be called for. Later it will be sent to the government for approval,” Mr. Satyanarayana said. After the wards are formed reservation of wards for various categories will be taken up paving the way for election.
As of now with total administrative control coming under GVMC, five villages each have been attached to Bheemunipatnam and Anakapalle municipalities.
Anakapalle municipal office has been converted into a zone office while for Bheemili, is it is a sub-zone office and civic affairs there will be managed by the present municipal commissioners.
The employees of the gram panchayats will be given an option to stay back in the Panchayat Raj Department or join Municipal services. Additional Commissioner (Finance) P. Poornachandra Rao has been made special officer of Anakapalle and Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) R. Somannarayana for Bheemunipatnam. The engineering works will come under the technical control of the Chief Engineer and plan approvals instead of VUDA and DTCP to Town Planning wing of GVMC. The self-help groups have been brought under the Urban Community Development wing of GVMC. Besides video conferencing, the Commissioner will visit the new areas once in a week for ensuring civic amenities and smooth administration.
