Residents of Gopalapatnam VUDA Colony are exercised over the possibility of water pollution in their locality.
The shops abutting the colony and facing the main road have no proper drainage disposal system. They have constructed crude sumps for discharge and it has polluted groundwater, alleges colony resident G. Bhaskara Rao who lives in the first lane.
He expressed the apprehension that what had happened in the first lane would soon spread to the other parts of the colony. Since it was happening in a government site some preventive steps should be taken, he demanded. In the absence of public toilets, part of the first lane abutting the main road turns into a toilet.
The approach roads are too steep, making it difficult for senior citizens even to walk and for vehicles to traverse the gradient leading to the traffic-laden main road. Also, residents face the problem of snakes wandering in the colony, considering the open spaces in the 30-bed government hospital, the BSNL premises and the Rytu Bazar nearby, he says. The backyard of the hospital is an eyesore with the residents of the neighbouring areas of the colony throwing garbage in it.
G. Ravi Kumar, Additional Director, NSTL, who lives in the colony, suggested that vacant sites should be cleared of bushes. This is a view others also share as it has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and snakes.
