‘Pakistan Colony’ heaves a sigh of relief as authorities finally change its name

Residents of Pakistan Colony in Vijayawada rejoice as NTR district Collector officially renames it Bhagiratha Colony after 8 years.

After eight years of efforts to get the name of their colony changed, residents of Pakistan Colony in Payakapuram of Vijayawada finally heave a sigh of relief as NTR district Collector G. Lakshmisha has declared that the colony would be now officially called Bhagiratha Colony.

The announcement, on January 28, came after a proposal for the name change was approved in the recent Vijayawada Municipal Corporation’s council meeting. The Collector said three Aadhaar centres had been set up to facilitate the address change.

Recalling their long journey with the quirky colony name, Kagga Seetharamaiah, a resident, has a hearty laugh. “We were tired of explaining to auto drivers, relatives and government officials about how the name came to be. Now, we are glad that we do not have to narrate the whole story,” he says.

The colony, as per residents, borrowed its name from the Indo-Pak war of 1971, when a few houses were built for war refugees in Payakapuram. “The government built houses for war refugees in many cities. Vijayawada, too, was one. The refugees left, but the name of the place, which then was called ‘Pakistan Colony’, stayed,” recalls an elderly man, M. Raju.

A truck driver in those days, Mr. Raju’s family of five including wife, two children and a brother, used to live in small huts on the banks of the Eluru canal, near the Sri Velidandla Hanumantaraya Grandhalayam, in the early 1980s. He had three huts, out of which he rented out two and used to get ₹15 per hut, he smiles.

Then, the municipal authorities asked them to shift to another place, in Payakapuram, and they were given plots. But, just as they started setting up huts here, the Budameru floods happened, Mr. Raju says.

“Then, our eyes fell on the houses vacated by the refugees. These had slabs, toilets, and doors. We thought we can stay here and occupied them,” he says. Since then, many continued staying in the colony that came to be known as the ‘Pakistan Colony’.