Potholes and dug-up roads dot APSEB Colony

Visakhapatnam: There is no scarcity of spacious roads in APSEB Colony. But dug-up roads plus potholes dot every other stretch of the neighbourhood located near NAD Kotha Road.

The ongoing UGD (underground drainage) and water pipeline works make the roads appear all the more shabby as they are either half dug-up or yet to be covered post the completion of the work.

For the past couple of years, the roads have been dug up for some reason or the other. And those travelling along these routes complain of back pain.

From initiating UGD works to connecting household sewers to the nearest manhole and laying water pipelines, the dug up roads in the area often poses a challenge to the residents and commuters.

The four-decade-old colony is one of the posh localities in the city. Many of the residents here are government employees.

Since it's VUDA-approved layout, the area has broad roads and drainage facility in place. However, the residents are not able to utilise the infrastructure due to lack of maintenance and continued negligence. Like the rest of the ward secretariats, there is only nine-member sanitation team catering to the cleaning regimen of the colony.

For the sanitation staff, it has become a tedious job to maintain cleanliness due to shortage of staff. "Lack of maintenance and bad roads are the two major challenges we experience in APSEB colony for years. Owing to age, drainage system is another area of focus which needs to be attended to. In addition, worn out roads poses greater risk during monsoons," says R Appala Naidu, president of ASEB Residents Welfare Association. A park located in the heart of the neighbourhood remains to be developed. Though it is being frequented by five colonies in and around the locality, the park lacks in greenery and slowly it has turned into a mere playground. A walking track facilitated earlier is the only facility that comes to the aid of the health freaks in the neighbourhood. A meditation platform, dedicated space to play cricket and shuttle, children's play area which is not serving the purpose form a part of the park.

"The park needs to be developed at an estimated budget of Rs 40 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. Also, the NAD-Gopalapatnam bypass road passes via the colony leading to heavy traffic chaos. There is a need for one-way traffic in the area to ease the vehicle congestion," opines Bommidi Ramana, ward corporator.

Further, the corporator mentioned that estimation would be readied to take up development works in the colony, including laying of roads and drains. Residents here demand that the median of the 80-ft road also needs to be developed with greenery.