Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Botcha Satyanarayana directed civic officials to undertake a special sanitary drive in the city in view of the incessant rainfall over the last few weeks.
Mr. Satyanarayana, along with Minister for Marketing Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao, Guntur East MLA Md. Mustafa, District Collector I. Samuel Ananda Kumar, and Municipal Commissioner C. Anuradha conducted a whirlwind tour of Old Guntur.
Roads dotted with potholes, swampy drains and overflowing stormwater drains greeted the Ministers and the accompanying officials at Vasavi Nagar. The dilapidated Brahmananda Reddy Stadium presented a pathetic sight. Areas in Yadava Bazaar, Suddadonka Road, Ponnur Road resembled dust bowls.
While lending a patient hearing to complaints by locals, the Minister said that the inefficiency of the previous TDP regime was the main reason for the incomplete Under Ground Drainage (UGD) scheme in the city. “The Government has paid ₹390 crore to the contractor Shapoorji and Pallonji, but the contractor has failed to complete even 50% of works. A decision will be taken whether to call for financial closure of the project or to continue with the existing contractor,” the Minister said.
The situation on the sanitation front is slowly improving with the Real-Time Monitoring System (RTMS) in place. More than 2,000 workers are handling collection and segregation of solid waste in the city divided into 736 micro pockets, the Minister said.
The entourage visited BR Stadium, where the Minister promised that the State Government would take steps to restore it. A delegation of Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh officers would visit the stadium and prepare Detailed Project Reports (DPR). The Minister also directed the municipal engineering department officers to prepare DPRs for the stormwater drainage system.
Later, the Minister along with other elected representatives visited Gandhi Park and asked the municipal department to develop the park located in the heart of the city.
“In the next 20 days, we will visit areas in Guntur West Assembly segment and identity areas for development,” Mr. Satyanarayana said.
