Imagine this: It’s 9:45 am. You’re on your way to work. With only 15 minutes to get there, you’re in a hurry. So you hit the accelerator. And then it gets worse – you hit a pothole. Then you hit another, and another, forcing you to slow down. Conclusion of the story? You reach office in a bad mood, with more damaged wheels than you started with in the morning.
Unfortunately, a lot of people living in Visakhapatnam don’t need to imagine this – it is a harsh everyday reality. Potholes have been a setback that has continued to affect daily travel in and around Visakhapatnam for quite a while now, with no sign of repairs in sight. The situation is especially dire with the onset of monsoon. Heavy rains cause roads to deteriorate further, and crossing potholes becomes a rougher challenge. At night, motorists may have it even worse as it’s not easy to spot them. Adding to the worry, bad roads also pose a threat to vehicle condition.
Team Yo! noticed that such potholes are a concern in the Akkayapalem-Satyam Junction area in the stretch that previously used to be National Highway-16. We made a post on Instagram about the issue, asking other residents to share their experiences. Many Vizagites seemed to resonate with this, and they took to the comment section to express their frustration about the issue.
One user specified that one reason the road is losing out on better infrastructure is because it has been stripped of its ‘NH’ status. “The NH status was removed to allow bar shops to be open on that stretch of a road from near Anakapalli to end of Anandapuram because our then CM didn’t want to remove bars from highway so that his pockets are filled. And losing the NH status has costed us to have better roads infrastructure set. Pathetic truth but that’s just how the govt operates. Please take the potholes complaint to GVMC”, they said.
Other users shared that they faced the same problem in other parts of the city. “Gajuwaka to parawada (Pharma City). We should learn to fly without wings 
” said one user. Echoing the same sentiment, another user said “Gajuwaka lo chustey pichekki pothav emo” (You’ll go mad if you see Gajuwaka).
“Come to Anakapalle Habibi ”, commented another.
Based on what others shared, potholes seem to be a common problem in the Gajuwaka-Pharma city, Venkojipalem-Hanumanthuwaka, Gajuwaka-Sheela Nagar stretches, and the MVP Ushodaya, Madharapalem, Anakapalle, Yendada, Kommadi areas.
“These seem like small issues but they do damage the car types and also not safe for two wheelers”, commented another user.
The ‘pothole problem’ is clearly a troublesome issue, making daily life a bumpy ride for motorists. It remains to be seen what steps the local authorities would take to address potholes in Visakhapatnam.
Stay tuned to Yo! Vizag website and Instagram for more city and news updates.
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