Visakhapatnam: Uneven roads trouble them

Visakhapatnam: A neighbourhood, once recognised as the best colony of the 54th ward in Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation, suffers from lack of proper roads and drains.

Bapuji Nagar in 104 Area witnessed development from 1977. Today, it is a home for 5,000 people employed in various sectors.

Though the signs of infrastructure development were seen one after the other over the years, the colony earned a reputation of clean locality for its maintenance.

Bapuji Sanghika Sankshema Sangham members focus on the development of the colony. This has paved the way for progress in the area, including the roads and drains. Whenever there is a problem related to sanitation, colony people and the sangham representatives come together to contribute to 'srama dhanam' and work towards resolving small issues themselves. "Since the purview of the colony has widened over the years, sanitation staff should also match up to the area extended. But at times, we need to request the corporation staff from the neighbouring localities to maintain cleanliness in our colony," says G Annam Naidu, president of the sangham.

During the earlier government, the then MLA P Vishnu Kumar Raju focussed on laying CC roads and drains, access to the burial ground, etc. "In recent times, the roads that were dug up for the UGD and pipeline works remain partly covered in most of the lanes. This needs to be levelled so that we can maintain our colony better," says B Rama Rao, secretary of the sangham.

Sangham members P Krishna, G Ramesh, Chandra Sekhar mention that ward secretariat is located far off from the colony. "It has become a setback for senior citizens and women to commute to reach the secretariat. Officials concerned need to pay attention to this," they opine.

Though there is a vacant site existing in Bapuji Nagar, residents say that they are deprived of a park and a playground wherein they could spend time for a while to de-stress themselves.

Bapuji Vanitha Club, women's association in the colony, plays an active role and organises events and cultural programmes in a community hall built by the sangham.

In addition, the association members take up an awareness campaign for 'Swachh Survekshan' to educate the locals and underline the importance of maintaining cleanliness in the area.