As Vizag gears up for municipal polls, locals list out their grievances

Come 10 March and Vizag will be witnessing elections for the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) after 14 long years. With different parties gearing up to hit the bull’s eye in the upcoming polls, addressal of the prevalent civic issues in Vizag has garnered major significance. As the citizens hope for an effective redressal system, we interacted with a few to know their grievances, ahead of the municipal polls in Vizag.

Vizag citizens share their grievances:

Water woes

Many hope the GVMC implements a foolproof action plan to address the water woes of Vizag. “It’s the onset of summer and water scarcity is once again likely to grapple the city. The demand for water is increasing by the day and the burden on the rain-fed water sources of the city has been on a proportional rise. While the GVMC has been mooting several new initiatives to address the issue, I hope to see the progress hit an up gear soon,” shares D Rajeswar Rao.

Pollution on the rise

Another issue that several citizens expressed concerns about is the rise of air pollution in the city. As reported earlier, Vizag has been declared as a non-attainment city for failing to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, for Particulate Matter and NO2,  over a period of 5 years. “The issue of air pollution has long pestered Vizag. The expanding industrial belt and the rising vehicular density have worsened the woes. The prevalence of coal dust is also a threat. In addition to boosting the green cover, the GVMC has to come forth with stricter norms to curb the worrying trend of air pollution in the city,” shares Indu M.

The state of roads

Finding space on the list of major issues voiced by the citizens is the state of roads. With potholes and dents plaguing quite a few roads, the daily commute has not been a smooth sail for many. “Take the stretch from Ramatalkies to Seethammapeta for instance. The roads are uneven, dented, and filled with potholes. The authorities need to act immediately or the commuters could be in for some serious back injuries or unfortunate accidents,” says P Shyam Krishna, a resident of Madhura Nagar.

Lack of parking spaces

P Prabhakar Rao, a retired government employee, shares, “While the upcoming multi-level car parking project promises a sigh of relief, areas other than Jagadamba also need innovative solutions to accommodate vehicles. With the roads already dug up, due to the ongoing underground cabling project works, lack of proper parking spaces is turning out to be a major issue. And it should also be noted that not all commercial establishments are facilitated with cellar parking. So there needs to be some consideration before slamming the public with hefty fines in this regard.” Resonating with his thoughts, a few others have also urged the authorities to provide parking spaces in key areas across Vizag.

While the aforementioned issues constitute the majority of the concerns expressed, the rest of the lot includes unauthorised chopping of trees, failure to desilt drains on time, and more. What are the issues in Vizag that you want the GVMC to address? Let us know in the comments below.