Developmental programmes should benefit people: Narayana

Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister P. Narayana has called for a thorough approach to ensure that the development programmes under the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) truly benefit the public. On Tuesday, he conducted a detailed review of ongoing GVMC development projects alongside GVMC Commissioner P. Sampath Kumar, VMRDA Commissioner K.S. Viswanathan, senior GVMC officials, and Zonal Commissioners at the VMRDA office.
Minister Narayana discussed various issues during the meeting, including building permits, road widening, the protection of GVMC properties, vending and hawker zones, encroachments, parking regulations, advertisement fees, layout permissions, master plan roads, unauthorised constructions, and GVMC city roads. “It’s vital that every development programme not only makes progress but also provides real benefits to our citizens,” said Minister Narayana. “We need to address issues like unauthorised constructions and parking regulations directly to make sure our plans meet the city’s needs.”
Several Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects are currently underway within GVMC, including solar installations, flyover bridges, bus shelters, fuel stations, land monetisation, an amusement park in Mudasarlova, automation of water supply, skywalks at nine locations, a stadium, sports complexes, and electric vehicle charging stations. Minister Narayana asked the GVMC Commissioner about these initiatives, stressing the need for transparency and efficiency in carrying out these projects.
The Minister instructed officials to remove advertisement boards from central medians and to enhance greenery in these areas. He also pointed out the delays in building plan approvals and directed the GVMC Commissioner to conduct a thorough review via video conference soon. “We need to sort out these delays quickly to ensure smooth progress in our development programmes,” Narayana added.
After the review, discussions were held with Visakhapatnam MP M. Sribharat, legislators Velagapudi Ramakrishnababu, Vamsi Krishna Srinivas, Panchakarma Ramesh Babu, Ganababu, Bandaru Satyanarayana, Legislative Council Members Duvvurapu Rama Rao, Vepada Chiranjeevi Rao, TDP Leader Pila Srinivas Rao, and GVMC officials. Topics included the master plan, flyover bridges, open drains, sewage treatment plants, underground drainage, 24/7 drinking water supply, and smart city development projects.
Minister Narayana criticised the previous administration for failing to release matching grants for Swachh Bharat funds, noting that the central government’s allocation of 2790 crore rupees had not been disbursed to the state. “The previous government’s failure has led to a halt in municipal development works,” he said. “In the next four months, we will intensify our efforts to revitalise municipal urban development and improve financial conditions.”
The review was attended by GVMC Additional Commissioners S.S. Verma, D.V. Ramanamurthy, Chief Engineer Vinay Kumar, Town Planning Officer Suresh Kumar, DCR Srinivasa Rao, Project Director UGD M.V.D. Phani Ram, Supervising Engineers, Zonal Commissioners, and other officials.
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