Visakhapatnam: Unfinished bypass road, open drains worry residents

Visakhapatnam: Indira Nagar is one of the oldest hilly areas in Gopalapatnam wherein the infrastructure was developed decades before.

Though the roads and drains are comparatively in a better condition, an incomplete road continues to worry the residents in the locality. With an aim to bring down traffic congestion at NAD junction, the proposal of the bypass road was initiated 10 years before.

However, the bypass road (80-ft road) that passes from Gopalapatnam to NAD Kotha Road has been completed only in parts.

Earlier, the work of the 80-ft road that stretches from NAD to Lakshmi Nagar was wrapped up. But, the rest of the stretch is yet to take shape. Currently, only gravel road was laid in this part of the stretch. "Thousands of vehicles pass through this lane and it remains busy all the time. But during rains, the entire stretch becomes slushy because of the partly laid gravel road," says Bandaru Srinivasa Rao, a resident of Indira Nagar.

Similarly, residents bring out other issues to the fore. "Drain water trickle down the unfinished road. Because of which, we need to put up with an unbearable stench. It is better to have the drains covered so that we can be saved from the stink as well as mosquitoes," say the locals in the area.

Sharing their woes, commuters here say that those passing through the incomplete part of the 80-ft road is prone to skidding. This has significantly increased the number of accidents that occur in the neighborhood.

For long, the residents say that they have been waiting for the 80-ft road to get completed. Apart from this, they demand that the drains also need to be repaired.