Creation of urban agglomerations by merger of municipalities in the corporation will be good only if a master plan is worked out to improve services. Otherwise, there will be a disconnect between areas, Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, B. Sam Bob, has said.
When a municipality is merged with a bigger corporation they expect better services and for that VUDA has to work out the master plan, he said.
“There have been demands for merger of Anakapalle in GVMC and I do not know how wise it is,” he said.
Mr. Sam Bob, who is the Special Officer of GVMC and Chairman of VUDA, was speaking at a meeting organised by Centre for Policy Studies of Gayatri Vidya Parishad on Wednesday.
In the West satellite cities were created with all basic facilities, he pointed out whereas here people had to run for everything, particularly medical care, to the core of the city. On the status of urban local bodies, Mr. Sam Bob stressed the need for strengthening them financially by paying taxes in full. Half of the properties here were either under assessed or un-assessed, he pointed out. Only when people pay taxes well, they would be in a position to assertively demand service. Similarly the water charges collected were at the minimum.
The well-known culture of Visakhapatnam was being disturbed and the city was known for encroachments, he said. On the role of Town Planning Department, Mr. Sam Bob said the master plan should be transparent and generally it was not divulged. Mr. Sam Bob, an alumnus of Andhra University, thanked Prof. A. Prasanna Kumar for encouraging him and being a source of inspiration when he appeared for civil services.
Police Commissioner J. Purnachandra Rao wanted Mr. Sam Bob to clear the proposal for setting up 100 new traffic signals in the city that would help not only in regulation of the traffic but crime control as well. Centre for Policy Studies Director Prof. Prasanna Kumar cautioned against “cities becoming mirrors of national crisis” and wanted satellite cities to be developed to prevent choking of urban areas.
Visakhapatnam’s had immense potential as had been commented upon by Sir Arthur Cotton, he said. On the work of CPS, he said its 100 bulletin would appear in April next.
