Guntur, now in the race for capital region, is set for development on a fast track mode. Home to an enterprising group of tobacco traders and industrialists, the city is developing into a bustling business centre. One of the main reasons for the development of the city over the last five years is the real estate boom. While the city is reputed for quality of construction for years, development of apartment culture has fuelled the construction activity.
“We have been the leading builders in the State till 2000, with only Visakhapatnam competing with us. Builders here have always followed the best practices in construction, never comprised on the quality of the construction and maintained high standard throughout,’’ Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association, Guntur unit, secretary A. Siva Reddy said.
Apartments were built in the commercial areas of Arundelpet and the semi residential areas in Brodipet in the mid-80s. By mid-90s, they began to spring up everywhere and on the fringe areas of the city like, Vidya Nagar, Navabharath Nagar, Shyamla Nagar and Pattabhipuram etc. In the recent years, spiralling construction costs and acute shortage of labour has pushed the cost of construction to an almost prohibitive limit. Builders began to race against time to give a finished and complete flat, replete with wooden cup boards, marble flooring and air conditioning.
The post-bifurcation boom too had cascading effects and resulted in the steep rise in land price. Coupled with the steep increase in site value and spiralling construction costs, builders in the city too were forced to scale up the price of flats. Prices of flats have doubled. A two-bed room flat which used to sell for Rs.15-25 lakh two years ago, is now worth Rs.35-40 lakh. A three-bed room flat which used to cost Rs.35-40 lakh, is now costing upwards of Rs.50 lakh.
But the city continues to suffer with lack of basic amenities in extension areas forcing an unwarranted vertical growth. People have remained averse to moving out to spacious areas outside the town due to poor infrastructure. Availability of water has been a major issue but the comprehensive water project promises to address water problem for the next 40 years.
Apart from laying an Inner Ring Road connecting Auto Nagar to Gorantla on Amaravathi road, VGTM VUDA has done little to Guntur. “The UDA has to develop one or two model townships complete with infrastructure. Only then, the builders would venture out,’’ said Kalyan, another builder.
(Reporting by P. Samuel Jonathan) Mail to vijayawada@thehindu.co.in
