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3-decade-old VGTMUDA to be dissolved
The Urban Development Authority (UDA) based in Vijayawada, covering Krishna and Guntur districts, will soon fade into the oblivion. The body, better known as Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority (VGTMUDA), was formed in 1978 under the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Urban Development Act, 1975.
CRDA to replace the urban development authority
The Urban Development Authority (UDA) based in Vijayawada, covering Krishna and Guntur districts, will soon fade into the oblivion. The body, better known as Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority (VGTMUDA), was formed in 1978 under the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Urban Development Act, 1975. The VGTMUDA was the third urban development body setup in the erstwhile State after Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.
The urban body is set to be a part of history soon, as the State government had formed the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu as its chairman.
The UDA was first started with Vijayawada, Guntur, Tenali and Mangalagiri towns under its fold besides 147 villages spread over 1,665.66 square kilometers. Later Mangalagiri was also included in its title. The UDA was first expanded in 2004 with the inclusion of Tadepalli and 42 villages extending its limits to 1,954.64 square kilometers. Again in 2012, the UDA limit was extended to 7,068 square kilometers by including Gudivada, Nuzvid, Nandigama and Vuyyuru municipalities in Krishna, Ponnuru and Sathenapalli municipalities in Guntur district, besides 632 villages.
Though the officials tried to include Machilipatnam in Krishna and Eluru in West Godavari, the government restricted the limits to Hanuman Junction on Eluru side and Gudivada in Krishna district.
Though the urban body has a long history of over three decades, its first major project, the Amaravathi Township at Mangalagiri, remains incomplete till date. It had proposed several projects including a river front park at Bhavanipuram and hill park on Sitanagaram Hill near Undavalli, which still remains on paper. Its latest Metro Rail project is at its initial stage and would soon be transferred to the new body – CRDA.
The last meeting of the board was held on November 15 where its chairman V Srinivasa Reddy said that they have no official communication about abolition of the urban body.
UDA former chairman Dr Tumati Premanath welcomed the dissolution of UDA replacing it with CRDA. “The CRDA headed by the Chief Minister would certainly work better than the UDA, particularly in the location of new capital in the region,” he asserted.
