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Melting hills of Vizag
Former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao, while taking an aerial survey of the city soon after dedicating the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in 1991, was shocked to see the hills encroached by slum-dwellers. He immediately asked the local officials to clear the encroachments and residents be provided with houses in the plain areas. He had said then that “it not only endangers their lives but also affect
Not only ordinary people, but also govt departments encroach on the hills
Visakhapatnam: Former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao, while taking an aerial survey of the city soon after dedicating the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in 1991, was shocked to see the hills encroached by slum-dwellers. He immediately asked the local officials to clear the encroachments and residents be provided with houses in the plain areas. He had said then that “it not only endangers their lives but also affects the environment in future”.
The officials obliged and constructed new houses for them but the people did not move. They rather gave away houses for rent and remained there on the hills even today.
The former prime minister’s advice is now forgotten. Further, the encroachments increased manifold and almost all the hills adjoining the city have been occupied. According to GVMC, more than 700 slums have come up on the hills and now half the city population lives in slums on the hills, the highest in the country.
“Not only the people, the government too started encroaching the hills and the Indian Navy built its housing colony atop Dolphin Nose violating the Hill Act,’’ said an activist. The state government built a special IT SEZ on three hills in Rushikonda area where once panthers were seen prowling.
Perhaps, Vizag is the only city in India to have a reserve forest in the heart of the city. The difference of temperature by 4 degrees Celsius between the city and airport indicate how the green hills have been protecting the region.
Forest hills in Kommadi, Gambiram, Sagarnagar, Adavivaram, Endada, Duvvada and Rushikonda have lost their fuselage over the years, admits a forest official. The hills and forests stretch for several square kilometres and their altitude ranges from about 50 metres to 200 metres. Though no scientific survey has been undertaken, these hills house various kinds of deer like spotted and barking deer, sambars, panthers, wild boars, wild dogs and cats and jackals.
Elaborating on the importance of the Eastern Ghats hill ranges for the Vizag city, Prof Uday Bhaskar Reddy of the environmental sciences department of Andhra University underlines the importance of protecting the hills in the interest of environment and future generations.
He said the hills form the natural habitat of several varieties of fauna and acts as a barrier from heavy winds during cyclones. The hilltop vegetation helps protect the nutrient-rich top soil from being eroded, he said. The hills maintain ecological balance and the State government should keep in mind the environment aspect while going for development and urbanization.
By: VS Murty
