The villagers of Chepaluppada, a fishing village on the outskirts of the city, waited with placards to receive Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, when he visited their village on Saturday morning. They expressed their love for him not because he is the Vice-President, but for being instrumental in putting their village on the fast track mode of development.
Mr. Naidu went into the village, which he had adopted for development as a ‘Model village’, when he was a Union Minister in 2014, and saw for himself the progress of the development work initiated and expressed satisfaction.
Later addressing them, Mr. Naidu recalled his visit to the village, post Hudhud in 2014, and the devastation caused by the cyclone. “I was touched when you [villagers] asked me for drinking water, when I sought to know your requirements for your village. I decided to adopt the village and develop it through the Swarna Bharathi Trust of Nellore, which has been involved in rural development for the past 18 years,” he said.
“Though the Trust is managed by my daughter Deepa Venkat, you will be surprised to know that I am not even a member of the trust. The trust, in association with like-minded service organisations and generous contributions from the CSR funds of public and private sector undertakings, had initiated development works at an estimated cost of ₹8.5 crore so far.”
Chepaluppada has become the first village in Visakhapatnam district to have Under Ground Drainage (UGD) facility. A multi-purpose cyclone shelter was constructed and protected drinking water supply is being provided.
Cement concrete roads, an overhead tank and platforms for drying of fish were some of the other amenities provided. Mr. Naidu called upon the villagers to utilise the facilities in a proper manner and benefit from them.
The Visakhapatnam Steel Plant had promised ₹1 crore for the UGD and provided ₹50 lakh, so far, under its CSR programme.
The proprietors of Sri City (Nellore) promised ₹1 crore but have raised their contribution to ₹1.5 crore. He commended Vijay Nirman Company of Visakhapatnam, Divis Labs of Chippada and Vijay Mandhani of Vizianagaram for their contributions towards development of the village and Grandhi Mallikharjuna Rao of the GMR Group for agreeing to provide vocational training to the youth from the village for skill development.
Minister for HRD Ganta Srinivasa Rao presided.
Deputy Chief Minister N. Chinarajappa, Health Minister Kamineni Srinivasa Rao, Visakhapatnam MP K. Haribabu and District Collector Pravin Kumar were among those who were present.
