Visakhapatnam: Residents put up with perennial problems

Visakhapatnam: For years, Sairam Nagar is deprived of sanitation and development. Dilapidated roads, drains and stagnated wastewater dot several stretches of the neighbourhood.

Located in Gajuwaka, one of the core areas of the smart city, the five-decade-old Sairam Nagar is where over 3,000 people live now. Tangled with a host of civic issues, people here say, they have been waiting for improved infrastructure for years.

The roads and drains laid 20 years back paint a picture of neglect. Most of the drains here are in a dilapidated condition. Owing to which, sewage gets stagnated at various points. "It has been three months since our drains are cleared near our house. We are doing it ourselves. Except during Dasara to collect 'mamulu' (tips), no other time can we see the sanitation staff in the colony," says Lakshmi, a resident of the neighbourhood.

Despite the members of Sankalpa Kurmamma Residential Welfare Society in the colony bring the issues to the notice of the officials concerned, better amenities continue to elude the residents.

Even though the CC roads were laid years before, they were comparatively in a better condition until one-and-a-half-year before. "However, after the completion of the UGD and pipeline works, the roads became all the more worse as they were not covered appropriately. As a result, travelling during nights and monsoons has become risky for the commuters as they lose balance due to bad roads," says Paluru Lakshmana Swamy, president of the welfare society.

The connecting roads in the colony comprise a high school and a primary school. Also, the roads connect Gajuwaka main road and high school road. This has significantly increased the traffic flow during most part of the day.

Another issue the colony residents raise is the presence of pigs. "Pigs keep roaming freely in our colony and right in front of us. Since most of the drains in the locality are clogged and filled with plastic waste and filth, pigs keep frequenting here. Also, the residents suffer from seasonal diseases quite often. Similar problems persist in most of the streets in the locality," says D Vaikunta Rao, general secretary of the welfare society.

The society initiated a number of service programmes during the pandemic, including distribution of essential supplies to the poor. Also, the members of the society initiated small repair works in the colony. The residents, however, express their dissatisfaction over the corporation's focus on the sanitation maintenance in the neighbourhood and hope that their condition would improve in the coming days.

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A road dug up for UGD works

Domestic wastewater and plastic stagnated in the main drain

Pigs roaming in the locality