Visakhapatnam: A smart city colony deprived of basic amenities

Visakhapatnam: Slushy roads and foul smell welcome people to Srama Sakthi Nagar, one of the smart city colonies of Visakhapatnam.

Decades before, the layout of the colony was formed by the Port Employees' Union. Despite its existence for a long time, the neighbourhood is deprived of basic amenities.

Be it roads, drains or proper lighting facilities, minimum infrastructure continues to be missing in the colony.

Located near Chinamushidiwada, the neighbourhood was under the purview of the panchayat earlier. Later, a total of five layouts were developed in the locality. Today, Srama Sakthi Nagar is a home for 5,000 people.

Even after getting merged with the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) in 2005, the lives of the people here did not change much. "Though we are paying taxes regularly, development-wise, it is zero in the neighbourhood. Despite bringing our issues to the notice of the officials concerned and public representatives several times, our problems remain unresolved," laments E Seethayya Naidu, a resident of the colony.

After the civic polls held in 2007, roads were laid in the colony at a cost of Rs30 crore. "Since then, no repair works or allotment of new roads or drainage system was taken up here. Again, after the recent civic polls, proposals close to Rs80 crore were submitted for the infrastructure development of the colony. However, nothing was approved so far. Lack of amenities is certainly a challenge for the residents and it is an embarrassing situation for us to approach them with no concrete remedy in store," says Senapati Vasantha, corporator of the 97th ward.

Earlier, individual houses that dot the area have now become either group houses or apartment complexes in most of the lanes. However, with no proper drainage system in place, wastewater from the households flows down the roads.

With drain water getting stagnated on the roads, people in the neighbourhood suffer from seasonal diseases and constant stench. "This year alone, about 16 dengue cases were registered in our colony owing to poor sanitation. Even to reach the temple in the colony, we need to pass through the filth-filled roads," rues Sankar Prasad, another resident.

An undeveloped park cries for attention in the area. Apart from the mosquitoes, pigs get attracted to the slushy roads of Srama Sakthi Nagar. Residents here say that no amount of mosquito repellents work in their neighbourhood.