5 interesting stories about old Visakhapatnam that will transport you to the past!

With superbikes, luxury cars, and the overall traffic increasing, the streets of Vizag are almost always buzzing with vehicles. However, even five years ago, the city’s roads didn’t look the same. The change is quite noticeable, but have you ever wondered how the place used to look thirty years before today? Or how about fifty years ago? Check out these stories from old Visakhapatnam that give us a glimpse into how road transport in Visakhapatnam worked and looked during the yesteryears!

Women Transporters

Six decades ago, there were no cycles, rickshaws or hand-drawn carts to move heavy loads from one place to another. That’s when the women of the Jalari community (Fishing community) would come to the rescue. One had to depend on these women to transport their furniture and other hard-to-carry items. 

Every morning, the women, rolling a thick cloth over their heads, would assemble near Kurupam Market and wait for assignments. The thick cloth helped them carry these items by balancing them on the head. Perhaps chitchatting on the journey used to make this heavy work easier.

Eco-friendly Transport

Just like the Jalari women, there was another saviour in the olden days who played an important part in transporting materials like iron and cement from Vizaianagaram to Visakhapatnam. Before the advent of lorries, these materials were carried in bullock carts, and one such bullock cart operator’s name was Padmanabham. Though he was 60 years old, his honesty and sincerity were so great that he eventually became a trustworthy dealer of TATA steel!

He used to have two sturdy bullocks to pull his cart, who were so attuned to the work that they were compared to auto-piloted aeroplanes. The cart would keep moving even after dark and Padmanabham would sleep in the back during the journey. With the advent of the lorry, the way of moving goods has declined.

Jeeps of Wartime

After the Japanese occupied the Andaman islands in 1942 during World War II, the British went on a recruiting spree for their armed forces, anticipating that Visakhapatnam would be the next target. Many youngsters volunteered and a common question asked at the test was “What is a jeep?” Though the expected answer was “A jeep is a sturdy four-wheel drive which can travel on a rugged road and also on hilly track,” many failed to give the appropriate response as they did not know what a jeep was. It was after World War II that many jeeps were introduced in the city.

The Arrival of Royal Enfield to Visakhapatnam!

In the year 1953, motorbikes from England were the only two-wheelers present in Visakhapatnam. There were hardly a couple of them and unlike today, very rarely would women sit on them as pillion riders. In 1953, the Madras-based “Western Automobiles” opened its office near the Kotha Road in Old Town. They were dealing in Italian scooters including Lambretta. The waiting period for

People who wanted to buy Royal Enfield bikes had to go to a dealer stationed at Kakinada. Catering to the needs of residents, Kolluru Jagannadha Rao, along with his brother Venkata Rao, started the first Royal Enfield Showroom in Visakhapatnam and named it Kaveri Agencies.

Transport of Yesteryears

The mode of transport of yesteryears was a wooden carriage drawn by a bullock. The carriage was shaped like a square box and it was coated with special waterproof paint. The bullock carts were later replaced by jhatkas that were drawn by ponies, and then came hand-pulled rickshaws. After World War II, the hand-pulled rickshaws gave way to the cycle-rickshaws and later came the autos.

Another interesting tidbit is that in the past, there was a 1 km rail track on the way to the airport, which was a great hindrance to the passengers as the level-crossing gates would be closed due to the frequent movement of trains. Hindustan Shipyard Limited and Indian Navy, who often received top-ranking officials, used to arrange for a car to wait on the other side of the track or ferry their VIP guests to avoid delay. Later in the 1980s, a flyover was constructed over the rail lines and the problem was permanently solved.

As the roads of Visakhapatnam continue to evolve, these old stories from Visakhapatnam of the past remind us of a time when transportation relied more on human effort and hard work. 

(This article is compiled from the book Vi(za)gnettes by Kolluri Jagannadha Rao, a resident of Visakhapatnam who used to write for The Hindu’s Metroplus Column. All these old stories of Visakhapatnam are garnered from his personal experiences.)

Also  read – The cursed story of first Medical School building of Visakhapatnam!

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