Too many Mayors, not enough growth in Vijayawada

Vijayawada has seen 11 Mayors over the years, but is still beset by a lack of basic facilities

March 14, 2020 09:51 pm | Updated December 03, 2021 06:47 am IST - Vijayawada

The city of Vijayawada, a selection grade municipality for several decades, was upgraded to a municipal corporation 39 years ago.

The Left parties won the first municipal elections in the city in 1981, with three of its leaders getting elected to the office of the Mayor for five years.

In subsequent years, all major political parties such as the Congress, Telugu Desam Party and CPI and CPI(M) ruled the city for at least nine years each till 2019. In all, 11 Mayors were at the helm though elections were conducted only for six terms, thanks to alliances and power-sharing pacts between parties.

While all political parties claim to have played a key role in the city’s development, a walk through its thoroughfares leaves one with little doubt that the city is still deprived of basic urban infrastructure.

 

Open drains, encroached or non-existent footpaths, dysfunctional traffic signals, narrow roads, and a lack of amenities such as bus shelters, parks and flyovers have left the city struggling to cope with the rising population.

Town planning has taken a backseat with officials focusing solely on revenue collection on which the city is dependent. Successive State governments meanwhile have done little for the sustainability of the civic body.

Only recently, the government sanctioned ₹150 crore for developing roads in the city. The previous government removed the burden of paying salaries to the VMC employees of the civic body by ensuring the release of salaries through the State treasury.

At present, several projects are pending on paper and on the ground-level for years. Some projects are learnt to be pending for over a decade.

The Kanakadurga Flyover, on which work began in November 2015, is still under construction even as two State Governments changed and missed nearly a dozen deadlines. Similarly, the Central government-sponsored stormwater drainage project whose works began in November 2016 is still under construction, posing severe hardships to the public.

One project that managed to see the light of day recently was the Benz Circle Flyover which was part of the Vijayawada-Machilipatnam highway expansion project. Work began on the 2.3 km-long flyover in 2016 and was completed recently.

On the other hand, the city suburbs are still deprived of infrastructure such as underground drainage, proper drinking water facility, roads and others though they became part of the corporation long ago.

Gunadala, Bhavanipuram, Payakapuram, Patamata and Kundavari Kandrika were merged into the corporation in 1985 and recently, Jakkampudi was also merged into the corporation.

Outdated infra

However, barring Patamata and Bhavanipuram, the other areas are still far from being developed. Also, new colonies coming up in Ajith Singh Nagar, Gunadala and other areas are lacking basic facilities.

The city has underground drainage lines that are over 50 years old in some areas. In contrast, there are many areas which are not even connected to the drainage network.

 

The Gunadala flyover project pending for a decade was revisited by the new Government and orders have been given to resume the project, but nothing has materialised yet. Completion of the flyover would spur development in Carmel Nagar and adjacent areas which are close to the city but are separated by a railway track and two canals.

Meanwhile, underground drainage has been the biggest concern for the public as well as the civic body as overflowing drains are a regular sight in many areas. Indicating the same, complaints against UGD top the grievances registered with the corporation every day.

The city is struggling to have a proper signalling system for over a decade due to the lack of funds and coordination between the police and town planning wing of the corporation.

For the same reason, encroachment on the city roads has become a common sight and encroachers even have the support of the local politicians. In some cases, even properties of bureaucrats have occupied footpaths forcing pedestrians to walk on the roads despite the availability of pavements.

One aspect of development that was constant in the city was the expansion of major roads and improvement of sanitation in important areas and busy roads due to initiatives like Swachh Bharath and others. Yet road congestion is a major cause of concern in many areas like Governorpet, One Town, Patamata which reflect a lack of vision and poor urban planning by the previously elected bodies.

No political party was able to provide proper spaces for the city youth to play sports and games and the Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium has been misused for political meetings by all the parties.

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