The six-km stretch of road between Zinc Smelter-Mindi to BHPV-Sheelanagar on the highway has been orphaned with none taking care of its maintenance.
Neither the Vedanta Group which owns Zinc Smelter properties nor the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation owns up responsibility for maintenance of the road. The reason:
The road was laid as a welfare measure by the Hindustan Zinc Limited in 1972 when it was in the public sector. Ever since the Zinc Smelter was shutdown in 2013 – 11 years after majority stake was bought by Vedanta Group, the new management has reportedly stopped releasing funds for road maintenance.
Now the road has several potholes and rough patches no street lights, making it vulnerable for accidents at regular intervals, says Eti Shankar Rao, senior citizen and resident of the area.
Motorists coming from Malkapuram, Sriharipuram and nearby areas via Hindustan Zinc Road to BHPV-Sheelanagar and INS Dega Airport on the highway are forced to face untold hardship.
Whenever it rains, stagnated water fills the potholes making it very risky to drive for the motorists. Residents say since 2013 no care has been taken to repair the road.
“Our representations to the authorities have fallen on deaf ears. Local leaders say only if the higher officials respond, the problem cannot be resolved,” says Pitta Narayana Murthy, convener of Hindustan Zinc Parirakshana Andolana Committee.
He alleged though the Vedanta Group had reserved funds to the tune of ₹20,000 crore, it was not showing any interest to maintain the road in the larger interest of the local public. He urged the district administration and the civic authorities to intervene and take the responsibility to sanction funds for repairing the road.
