Vijayawada Municipal Corporation's riverfront office plan pending with CMO

VIJAYAWADA: The fate of a Vijayawada Municipal Corporation building is now in the hands of the Chief Minister. The lack of coordination between VMC officials and the elected representatives has turned into a stumbling block to the movement of a new proposal mooted by the civic body.

After the works were stopped by the Chief Minister’s Office, the Vijayawada mayor submitted a fresh proposal to construct the iconic building. He moved a proposal before the government that a building for the VMC will be built according to international standards and the CRDA should finalise the designs. The mayor promised to fulfil every requirement that would be sought by the CRDA to develop the riverfront. The remaining space available in the VMC premises could be utilised for the purpose of developing a tourist project that the state government planned for the riverfront.

This proposal is pending at the CMO. As the Amaravati Developmental Council (ADC) is working on designs of riverfront development project it is learnt that a decision on the construction of the VMC building is unlikely in near future. As the riverfront development project is being taken up by the government with the intention of making it a major tourist attraction in Vijayawada, senior officials are opposing the construction of VMC building at that location and made an alternative proposal to shift it to either Gunadala or Ajitsinghnagar.

Mayor Koneru Sridhar said that they are expecting a decision from the ADC in a month. He hoped that there will not be any problem with the construction of the building at the present site and added that the VMC was open to change the design if needed.