Visakhapatnam: While some colonies developed in tandem with the gradual transformation of Vizag City, several age-old colonies are steeped in great apathy. The Netaji Street near China Waltair stands as an example of the latter.
For a residential area that sprang up about many decades ago, the colony still scores very few marks when it comes to the civic amenities. Having a population of about 6,000 people, the narrowed drainages in the Netaji Street are a problem. The moderate colony, which is surrounded by Tamil Street, Vidya Nagar and Shramik Nagar, has nothing to boast about.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, D. Ramkumar, a senior resident of the colony, said that there is still a yawning scope left for the development of infrastructure of the colony. “The drainages within the colony have narrowed down and when it rains, the drainage water comes onto the roads.
The stormwater drain which runs down the middle of the colony gets clogged with plastic carrybags and other trash every now and then,” Mr. Kumar said. He said that the neighbouring GVMC Park is their primary recreational spot.
The colony, which falls into the 17th Ward of the city, is dominated by a particular BC community. Yellanki Satyamurthy, another resident, who was born and brought up in the same area, rued about an impasse over elections to the city civic body.
“Due to lack of a people’s representative within the Ward, we have to run after the MLA for even a petty issue,” he said. When asked about the transformation of the colony, Mr. Satyamurthy remembered: “Only a few traders used to do their businesses in those days and evolution of the area was evident after the 90s.”
He further explained how the residents maintain close-knit relations with each other and how they address various issues of the colony. Two youth groups within the colony, GSCC Youth and NSCC youth, also shared their experiences with Deccan Chronicle. They informed that due to lack of playground within the vicinity, they have to depend on the Andhra University ground.
When asked, some residents the colony replied that no proper timings of water supply have become a major issue for them and informed that the duration has come down within the last one week.
