Underground drainage project a big mess in Visakhapatnam, allege MLAs under GVMC limits in the State Assembly

MLAs demand White Paper on Visakhapatnam's UGD project issues, highlighting incomplete works and lack of STPs.

MLAs from various Assembly constituencies under the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) pointed out issues pertaining to the underground drainage (UGD) project in the city during the Assembly session on Tuesday. Alleging the UGD was a complete mess in the city, they have also demanded release of a White Paper on the project.

Visakhapatnam West MLA P.G.V.R. Naidu (Gana Babu) said that the previous government failed to cover all the houses under the UGD project and the linking of pipelines was also not done in many areas. He also alleged that desiltation works were not taken up in many areas, which was leading to overflowing of drains. Seeking the release of a White Paper on the UGD works, the MLA also urged the Minister concerned to frame a timeline for completion of the pending works of the project.

South MLA Vamsikrishna Srinivasa Yadav in his first speech in the Assembly, brought the issues being faced by the people of One Town area due to the incomplete UGD works.

“Even if it rains for some minutes in One Town, many colonies will be inundated,” he said.

The MLA also said that already people from One Town area are bearing the brunt of pollution and bad roads.

Gajuwaka MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao said that by the end of 2019, the TDP government had completed the UGD works in the constituency. But in the last five years, the YSRCP government had failed to set up sewage treatment plants (STPs), due to which the project could not brought to use.

Anakapalli MLA Konathala Ramakrishna said that people from Anakapalli and Bheemunipatnam agreed for the merger of the areas in the GVMC hoping that their localities would be developed, but that has not happened. Pointing out that Bheemunipatnam and Anakapalli do not have UGD connections, the MLA said that the due to improper desilting works, clogging and overflowing of drains was a common sight, which was resulting in the proliferation of mosquitoes and increase in vector-borne diseases. He also said that a STP near JNNURM colony was not functioning. He mentioned about bad roads and also urged that priority should be given to the Metro Rail project connecting Anakapalli and Bheemili to the city.