Voters of Vizag’s hillock areas long for basic amenities

Spread across several Assembly constituencies in the city, thousands of voters residing in the hillock areas continue to await drinking water supply, sanitation and a permanent solution to the menace of boulders

Residents living on a hillock area at Hanumanthuwaka Junction in Visakhapatnam. | Photo Credit: V. RAJU

The hillock areas from Arilova in the East Constituency to Peda Gantyada in the Gajuwaka constituency house thousands of Visakhapatnam voters. These residents constitute at least 5% of the voters in various Assembly constituencies. Most of these residents are migrant workers who settled here over the past few decades owing to the city’s high employability.

Problems aplenty

Though decades have passed since these non-locals made Vizag their home, basic amenities in these hill-slope areas remain a dream for them. They allege that several issues plague their colonies, from the lack of street lights to the unavailability of drinking water and insufficient sanitation.

They also allege that political party representatives barely visit their localities or address their issues and only see them as a vote bank they can exploit during election time.

The major problems faced by these residents are the lack of drinking water supply and the threat of boulders sliding during the rain. Many residents still await the government’s sanction of houses.

Those living in the hillock areas of Pendurthi Ward 93 complain about the lack of household drinking water supply. Even though water pipelines were arranged to some extent, many houses have yet to get the connections. Most residents are forced to either walk down the hill entirely or to some point on the hill to fetch the water for their daily needs.

“We demand the government set up water tanks and lay pipelines in the area. The promises made by officials were only proven to be empty,” said K. Vikram, a resident of Appalanarayya Colony.

Looming threat

Many voters residing in the hillock areas of the Gajuwaka Assembly and North constituencies seek to construct retaining walls to avert the looming threat of boulders falling from the hilltops during the rains. In 2020, three people died in two separate incidents at Ganapathi Nagar and Pentayya Nagar when boulders crashed on the houses following heavy rainfall under Gajuwaka. In 2015, four persons died when boulders fell on homes in the Thatichetlapalem area under the North constituency.

“Unlike earlier, most of the houses that used to be in the interior areas of the hillock were vacated, and the people shifted to other places. However, during heavy rains, we are in a constant state of panic. Fortunately, in the past few years, we have not seen continuous rainfall or severe cyclones. In case of such harsh weather conditions, we are told to shift to shelter homes,” said Kesava Rao, a resident of Pentayya Nagar.

N. Sai, a resident of the Thatichetlapalem hillock area, said that while there has been improvement compared to previous years, it can still be improved.

“Sanitation is one area that needs to be improved. As garbage trucks cannot trek the hill, more dustbins should be placed, and sanitation staff are needed to clear the garbage. Though street lights were arranged, many do not function properly. This is a problem at night,” he said.

The locals complain about snake encounters in the hillock areas of Hanumanthuwaka and Arilova. Some hillock areas in Arilova complain about trouble created by miscreants consuming ganja.