Cellar clearance: GVMC makes little headway

The GVMC drive to clear cellars of encroachments in buildings has still a long way to go.

The idea behind the drive is to prevent parking on busy roads and pave the way for smooth flow of traffic.

In all, 184 of the 335 identified cellars in the six zones of the city and Anakapalle were cleared in the drive that had begun nearly two months ago.

Of the six zones, it is the busy commercial area in the heart of the city, comprising Daba Gardens and Jagadambja junction, among others, that has turned out to be a difficult area.

Of the 170 cellars in Zone II, only 75 have so far been cleared, according to officials of the City Planning wing.

In all, 50 educational institutions have sought time till May 10 for clearing the cellars. Some are making out a case that they are residential institutions and hence do not need parking space.

“But we are insisting that the space meant for parking be left for the purpose, irrespective of whether they use it or not,” says a senior official of the GVMC.

In the case of 23 buildings, local courts had given permanent injunction long time ago.

The GVMC has now come out with a plan to file a comprehensive case in the High Court.

For some buildings, plan approval for shops had been given after earmarking parking space.

“The problem is not with any building constructed during the last 10 years, but those that had been constructed earlier,” the official explains.

After clearing the encroachments, a list of buildings has been given to the traffic police for enforcing parking in them.

But the police told the GVMC that many lacked suitable ramp for parking.

ADCP (Traffic) K. Mahendra Patrudu, after inspecting 50 cellars, said that 20 of them lacked ramps.

Municipal Commissioner Pravin Kumar asked the police to give a total list of buildings that lacked ramps or suitable approach.

Once the list is received, notices would be served on persons concerned to provide ramps/approach. Otherwise, they will be considered as unauthorised buildings, attracting heavy penalty, say officials.