Adda road construction will solve Kothapeta hill area problems
Repairs being undertaken to KT road
Vijayawada: Thousands of families live happily in hilly area of Kothapeta in Vijayawada city with all amenities like power supply, drinking water supply, streetlights etc., but the only problem is there is no proper road to reach the hill.
The residents have to trek steps to reach their houses.
Kothapeta one of the oldest and biggest colonies in the city with different geographical features. More than 80% of Kothapeta population lives in the hill area, who have settled over the last eight decades. The residents constructed houses and Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has gradually laid steps and drinking water pipelines to reach the houses. The only issue is the residents depend on the steps to reach their homes. The VMC is unable to lay roads and widen the steps as there is no space available for laying roads since thousands of families have constructed houses on both sides of the narrow lanes.
The residents have to come down to main road to catch auto rikshaw or city bus. The hill rocks are very sloppy and there is no possibility of laying road, making the people to depend on steps only.
Proposal for construction of Adda road from Milk Project to Mallikarjunapeta passing via Kothapeta is pending for a long time.
If only Adda road is constructed, it will be useful to ply vehicles. But, large number of houses have to be demolished for construction of Adda road.
The residents are opposing the proposal for construction of adda Road because large number of people have to be evicted from Kothapeta. Land acquisition will be a big challenge for construction of this road.
K Rajesh, a resident near Srinivasa Mahal, said the residents living in the hill area are habituated to live for a long time and been living as per their wish only. He said construction of Adda road will be beneficial to large number of people, but it is not an easy task.
Due to increasing population and house rents, many poor and middle-class families have constructed houses on the hillock and been living there for many decades. House rents on the hill area are lesser compared to other areas of the city.
The biggest problem most residents face is lack of vehicle parking facility. They have to park their vehicles at some other places on their own risk. Pregnant women, elderly people and sick people suffer to come down from their homes to catch buses and auto rikshaw.
Commercial activity is also increasing in Kothapeta for the past few decades with setting up shops, hospitals, banks, educational institutions etc. Kothapeta residents enjoy good transportation facility like availability of RTC buses and other vehicles like auto rikshaws.
KT Road connecting Srinivas Mahal and Milk project was totally damaged in recent months. The VMC has recently taken up road repair works and is expected to complete in one month.