Kakinada: Smart city suffers from poor coordination, official apathy

KAKINADA: There is no proper method to implement development works at Kakinada, which is to be converted as Smart City. The Kakinada Municipal Corporation (KMC) is developing roads in several areas. After a few days, the laying of underground cables of various companies as well as government and private undertakings begins leading to a lot of digging.

The digging spoils the road leaving huge potholes and craters. There seems to be no coordination between various departments in the KMC as well as companies and and Smart City. Whenever a new road is laid, it is dug up by some mobile companies, Bhagyanagar Gas Limited, BSNL, KMC water pipelines and others to lay cables.

A major sufferer from the frequent digging is BSNL. The telecom giant had laid its underground cables many years ago. When the KMC or any other company digs the roads for laying pipelines or cables, they strike at  the BSNL wires damaging them  and disrupting telephone connections. BSNL authorities appeal to the KMC officials that they should be informed before digging, but the BSNL officials say their wires get damaged with no precautionary methods taken for interrupting telephone lines.

Meanwhile, if any road is laid, the contractor should maintain or the quality of road is for two years. After two years, the contractor would be given his deposits as per quality. ''It is a fact that the contractors are not laying quality roads with the cooperation of the officials. But, due to the improper digging of new roads, though there is no quality and roads are damaged, the contractors give their clarification on the pretext of the digging of roads'' said the Citizen's Initiative secretary Duvvuri Subrahmanyam. He said that there is no proper plan of action or there were no proper method for KMC or Smart City in laying cables. He said that the KMC has failed to get sophisticated technology in this matter.