A vicious circle that has led to five-year delay

Government wings involved in development of Solvent Road engaged in a blame-game

This road in Autonagar area in Vijayawada has been craving for attention for almost last five years thanks to the wide gap among the departments involved in its development. Photo. Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar.

Development of the Solvent Road abutting the APSRTC Autonagar terminus is caught in a vicious circle. Various wings of the Government involved in its development are engaged in a blame-game, leaving the project unattended for almost five years.

The 4.04 km-long road belongs to the Roads and Buildings Department. On the entire stretch, a black top double lane road was laid up to 1.2 km from the National Highway No.9 almost five years ago. A stretch of roughly 1.4 km-long white metalled road exists from 1.9-k.m. to 3.5-km stretch.

The remaining part of the road has almost ceased to exist with the disappearance of the surface of the road bed and encroachment of vast portions by condemned and sick vehicle bodies, heavy machineries and steel girders belonging to the industrialists of Autonagar. Initially, the road belonged to the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC). The R &B wing took over the road with a condition that it should be handed over without any encroachments.

“Unless these encroachments are cleared, it will not be possible for us to take up the road-laying exercise,” R&B Superintending Engineer C.S.P. Mahadev told

The Hindu on Tuesday.

Construction of the Guntutippa drain works left abruptly by the Corporation is said to be yet another hindrance to the road laying.

Mr. Mahadev says only a coordination meeting of the R&B and VMC can solve the problem but he has no clue when that will happen. Sources in the department said it had problems developing roads that were in the Corporation limits mainly due to the ‘haphazard' manner in which the municipal authorities carried out the projects.

Vijayawada Municipal Corporation Superintending Engineer V. Venkateswara Rao, in response to the issue, admits that the Guntutippa drains works were stopped abruptly over a year ago because ‘the contractor backed out'. “We have terminated the contract and have called fresh tenders,” he says.

About the unclaimed condemned vehicle bodies strewn all over the path, he points to the Industrial Area Local Authority (IALA) as the responsible party. IALA Chairman Veeraiah in turn, blames it on the ongoing construction of the VMC garbage transfer station on an adjacent plot. “The VMC is using the road to dump the debris and other discarded material. The construction is on for over two years now. Once, that is ready, we'll have the road cleared of the old vehicle parts,” he says.