Title - The Hindu : Cities / Visakhapatnam : Decks cleared for completion of Simhachalam corridor

A major hurdle in completing the Simhachalam corridor of the BRTS project under JNNURM has been removed with a layout having been identified for the families that wanted house sites as an alternative for vacating their houses in Ramakrishnapuram through which the BRTS road is to be laid.

There are 250 houses in Ramakrishnapuram which has to be removed and 120 accepted houses at another place while the remaining wanted house sites. A layout has been identified at Bakkannapalem for the families and the issue would be resolved in a month’s time, Municipal Commissioner M.V. Satyanarayana said at a press conference here on Friday.

Progress was also noticed in resolving the land issue with Simhachalam Devasthanam the land of which had to be acquired for laying the BRTS. Alternative land has been offered to the Endowments Department and would be handed over soon. Land belonging to the Devasthanam was used for a stretch of two km along BRTS. Work on providing lighting along the road between Hanumanthawaka and Kommadi will commence in a week’s time.

FLYOVER WORK

Work on the flyover was going on at a rapid pace and the Railways was also positive towards the GVMC request to spare its land. He held a meeting with the DRM on Friday morning, the Commissioner said.

Mr. Satyanarayana, who addressed the press conference along with Additional Deputy Commissioner (project) K. Ramesh, ADC (general) S. Krishnamurthy and Chief Engineer K. Jayarami Reddy said that to improve the sanitation in the city, which was not in a good shape, 24-hour sanitation programme was being introduced with the local mahila sangham given the supervisory authority over the sanitation workers and sanitation programme. As a pilot project a slum in each zone of GVMC would be brought under the programme.

ROAD TO BE REPAIRED

Potholes on all roads would be filled up once the rains give a breather, he assured saying that GVMC was ready to improve the road conditions but the rains came in the way.

It was also decided that a park would be established in each ward with its maintenance to be done by the local residents’ association. A programme to make the colonies dustbin-free was launched in Kirlampudi on a test basis and it was being conducted well.

A lot of attention was being paid to the GVMC schools and their performance. The required infrastructure like benches, etc. and study material would be supplied in advance and the industries and other donors would be approached later. The teaching, conducting of regular tests for pupils, intensive coaching when required would be closely monitored to improve the pass percentage substantially.

ANTI-MALARIA DRIVE

GVMC launched the anti-malaria drive on a war-footing and there was no dearth of chemicals and equipment, he said. The number of cases reported from the city was higher than detected in the rest of the district and also the number might be high this year compared to last year in the city. While 2,697 cases were reported between April 2011 and March 12, as many as 2,200 cases were reported till August this year while this number was 1800 during the corresponding period last year.