Unending road-widening woes

The road from Rama Talkies to Asilmetta comprises sub-way and BRTS corridor

March 07, 2012 03:09 pm | Updated 03:09 pm IST - VISAKHAPATNAM:

A cesspool shocks thousands of citizens that pass by Rama Talkies area, the nerve centre of Visakhapatnam on Monday, March 06, 2012. Photo: K.R. Deepak

A cesspool shocks thousands of citizens that pass by Rama Talkies area, the nerve centre of Visakhapatnam on Monday, March 06, 2012. Photo: K.R. Deepak

Projects in any city tend to drag on for a long time with trenches, half-dug roads and diversions testing the patience of people and wasting time, fuel and causing peak time stress.

With work on the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and widening of roads going on and on for years together even in the heart of the city roads looks awfully bad.

The road from Rama Talkies to Asilmetta comprises the sub-way and BRTS corridor from Asilmetta to Vepagunta via Maddilapalem and Hanumanthavaka and Adavivaram.

Commercial hub

The area has always been a commercial hub and more and more upmarket shops and agencies are opening up there.

The road work has been going on for a long time. With diverted city buses adding to heavy traffic road-users are facing a tough time driving there.

On the top of it, there are no traffic signals. Besides, the debris in a mound suddenly narrows down the road.

Anywhere in the city cesspools are a health hazard. The road has been dug up forming drains and the debris heaped nearby.

A dumper-bin nearby adds to the sore sight the city of destiny can not boast of.

Sources in GVMC say the reluctance to give the required land for widening the road had led to the work hanging fire for several months now.

The drain has to be formed as the others on the arterial road had given land.

Since the land nearby has not been given work had to be stopped there leaving the drain incomplete.

“If those owning shops co-operate we can complete the work and get the road ready in no time,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

The debris has been deliberately kept there to act as a sort of barricade between the incomplete drain and the road.

A foresight of sorts that created first-rate sore site.

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