Vizag civic body becomes more accessible to public

Visakhapatnam: As people approaching the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) to raise their concerns and submit grievances has seen a significant increase, the civic body decided to reach out to them by making itself more accessible to them.

In line with it, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation Commissioner P Sampath Kumar inaugurated a modern helpdesk at the GVMC headquarters to receive public grievances on all working days.

The corporation has set up a ‘Public Grievance Redressal System’ (PGRS) to address issues related to basic amenities and public welfare schemes provided by the civic body. Citizens can now submit their written grievances, complaints and suggestions every Monday from 11 am to 1 pm to senior GVMC officials available at the meeting hall.

As the demand for receiving public grievances on Mondays has been rising, the GVMC decided to set up five new counters at the headquarters. These counters will operate on all working days (except government holidays) from 10.30 am to 5 pm.

Public can submit their grievances related to social pensions, welfare schemes, housing, patta benefits, SHG bank linkages, etc., at counter No.1.Counter No.2 is dedicated for engineering related issues such as roads, drains, streetlight provision/repair, water supply, parks and crematoriums.

For issues related to the town planning section, building construction permits, complaints against illegal/unauthorised constructions, government lands, road and footpath encroachments, unauthorised hoardings, advertisement boards, etc, people can approach counter No.3.

Issues related to new property taxes, water tax assessments, name change/corrections in property tax, markets, parking fees, shop and commercial complex leases, etc will be received at counter No. 4.

Public health and other section issues, including street and drain cleanliness, irregular waste collection, street dogs and pig menace, are received at counter No.5.

For prompt resolutions, the complaints and suggestions submitted by the public at the helpdesk will be recorded on the state’s Public Grievance Redressal System (PGRS) website as well. These will be directly forwarded to the concerned official.

Officials from the concerned department will inform the citizens about the status of their grievances. Citizens can also submit grievances or complaints meant for the Commissioner at these counters. The Commissioner encouraged the public to make use of the facility. For more information, people can contact the GVMC toll-free number: 1800 4250 0009.