Demolition drive begins to widen roads in Kakinada Municipal Corporation

Kakinada: The Kakinada Municipal Corporation has begun the building demolition process for widening of the main road, keeping a dista-nce of 1 km from the Masjid Centre to Jagannaickpur.

The KMC has issued notices to 220 building owners, offering two options: they could eit-her demolish the buildings themselves or the KMC would do so for them.

Sources said that 52 building owners had approached the court, seeking cash compensation. According to the amended Municipal Administration Act, municipalities cannot extend such compensation. They can give Transfer Development Rights (TDR) bonds to those affected. “We sought the building owners' co-operation on the road widening as it is a most important feature in turning the city into a ‘Smart City’. Nearly 20 building owners agreed to vacate the court cases,” said KMC Additional Commissioner S. Govinda Swamy.

KMC's department of City Planning, led by Govinda Swamy, on Saturday demolished two buildings at the main road under the road widening programme amidst police bandobust. The work continued despite objections from traders.

Govinda Swamy requested the building owners to co-operate with them for the city's development. He said that drainage work would start simultaneously on the main road and road widening would also begin soon.