Vizag gears up for big infra plans
Visakhapatnam: Big Draw up specific infrastructure plans and execute in mission mode with zero inconvenience to the public as big investments are flowing into the Vizag region, IT and Industries Minister Nara Lokesh directed the officials.
Chairing a special review meeting with the District Collector, senior officials and public representatives here on Sunday, the Minister emphasised that Vizag should not suffer traffic problems like Bengaluru or Pune. “Plan to widen arterial roads and capacity corridors now,” he instructed the officials and exhorted them to prioritise traffic decongestion through corridor-based planning and junction upgrades.
Reviewing the readiness of infrastructure, Lokesh directed North Andhra officials to work in a time-bound manner to design an infrastructure blueprint for the Visakhapatnam region, aligning capacity creation with the surge of incoming investments and a 30-year development action plan.
The Minister called for integrated master plans that anticipate demographic, industrial, and logistics growth across Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Vizianagaram, and Srikakulam districts. “There is a need to think 30 years ahead, prepare comprehensive master plans and move in coordination with public representatives and officials to deliver desired results,” he stressed.
Signalling a ‘jobs-first agenda’, Lokesh underscored the government’s target of creating 5 lakh employment opportunities aligned with upcoming industries, including a major steel plant and multiple companies setting up their shops in the region. “This is a once-in-a-generation growth moment that aims to create jobs and focus on inclusive development,” he remarked. To enable the next wave of technology-led growth, officials were instructed to identify and ready suitable land banks for IT parks across the region. “Create shovel-ready IT park sites so that investors can plug in and build quickly,” Lokesh directed. He also stressed seamless public experience and stakeholder alignment. “Decisions must be swift, transparent, and people-friendly so that progress advances without any inconvenience,” he mentioned. The meeting reviewed regional development, infrastructure readiness, industrial inflows, and urban mobility, with instructions to finalise corridor designs, prepare phased road-widening plans, and lock land parcels for key public infrastructure. IT Secretary Katamneni Bhaskar, Mayor Peela Srinivasa Rao, District Collector M.N. Harendhira Prasad, Anakapalli Collector Vijaya Krishnan, MLAs Ganababu, V Ramakrishna Babu, amongothers.