The City of Destiny is poised to become a smart city. But one issue appears to worry both the Police Department and senior officers of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) — the growing traffic.
The number of vehicles is growing at a rapid pace. It is estimated that in five years the city roads will not be able to accommodate the flow.
If not checked, this may result in traffic snarls like the ones being witnessed in Hyderabad, Kolkata, or Bengaluru.
According to ACP (Traffic) K. Prabhakar, the number of vehicles as on date in the city is about 7 lakh. In Anakapalle, it is about 2.09 lakh. “In 1970, the number of vehicles on the city roads was barely 30,000. The growth is substantial, but infrastructure, including widening of roads, has not been commensurate with it,” says Mr. Prabhakar.
And this is worrying the officials. Essentially, there seems to be a lack of coordination between the Police Department and the GVMC.
According to Mr. Prabhakar, the critical aspect is the parking issue. About 50 per cent of major roads such as Dabagardens, One Town, Asilmetta, and Dwarakanagar are occupied by parked vehicles on both the sides.
“This is mainly because of lack of parking space. The GVMC gives permission to commercial complexes and malls without ensuring enough parking space. The Asilmetta road has over three major schools and colleges and over 10 shopping malls within a stretch of 1-km,” says a senior traffic inspector.
Countering his viewpoint, Chief City Planner D. Venkata Ratnam says that approval for malls and commercial complexes are given only after the requisite parking norms are fulfilled. But people tend to park on the road to save on parking fee or to avoid the trouble of getting into the cellar.
According to Mr. Venkata Ratnam, the norm for a mall is to provide 60 per cent as parking place, commercial complex 35 per cent, and apartment 20 per cent.
Multi-level parkingHowever, a senior officer from the engineering section of the GVMC points out that proposals for multi-level parking at APSRTC, Dabagardens, and Jagadamba Junction, which is the need of the hour, has been gathering dust for long.