‘Beautification’ of junctions draws the ire of denizens, traffic police in Visakhapatnam

GVMC spending ₹5 cr to beautify 5 junctions, but locals & traffic police complain of impeded traffic & congestion. GVMC not consulting stakeholders. Locals & traffic police unhappy, citing civic issues & lack of discussion in council. GVMC Deputy Mayor appeals for patience, promises review.

The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) is spending around ₹5 crore to beautify five junctions as part of smart city development projects. The junctions are Kailasagiri, Jagadamba, Railway New Colony, Akkayapalem and MVP Circle.

However, the works and designs at two of these locations – Akkayyapalem and Railway New Colony — have drawn flak from stakeholders including locals and traffic police.

While the locals are complaining that the project is impeding traffic movement, the traffic police are worried that congestion would rise sharply at these two junctions due to the projects.

“GVMC officials are not asking for our opinions or suggestions before embarking on such projects,” the police said, lamenting that GVMC does not consider the traffic police as a stakeholder in such projects.

S. Ramana Murthy (name changed), a chicken shop vendor near the underdeveloped junction at Railway New Colony, said, “It is a narrow junction connecting the old stretch of National Highway-16 towards Thatichetlapalem from the Visakhapatnam railway station, and the city junction (Dwarakanagar) via Dondaparthi. The design and works in the name of a beautiful and spacious water fountain at this junction resulted in a congested junction. The authorities concerned should rethink on the project and design the works accordingly.”

P. Ranga Rao (name changed), near Shirdi Sai Temple at Akkayapalem Junction, is also of the same opinion. “We see no reason to develop a junction with structures by trimming the existing road network in our area, which is not a tourist spot. We don’t think Akkayapalem is a place for such beautiful projects. GVMC has several civic issues in our areas to be focussed upon, instead of such works. The width of the existing road has shrunk to half the size.”

When contacted, a senior city traffic police official said, “To be honest, GVMC has not approached us to take our views on those junction development works. We had many problems in mind to explain to city development government agencies like GVMC but they did not give us a chance.”