Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada

Encroachments come in the way of Nainavaram flyover

VIJAYAWADA: It’s more than eleven months since the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) cleared the encroachments that are standing in the way of Nainavaram flyover. Consequently, the trumpet (structure in the middle) works of Nainavaram flyover, which are supposed to have been grounded by now, came to a grinding halt.

According to information, the VMC authorities are supposed to remove the encroachments that stand in the way of approaches of the Nianavaram flyover. The encroachments are on railway lands near Milk Factory, and the railway authorities almost cleared them before local MP Lagadapati Rajagopal intervened and persuaded them to wait until the VMC provided them alternative housing under the JNNURM programme.

It may be recalled that the railway authorities, during last December, descended on the locality to remove encroachments from railway lands. Mr. Rajagopal intervened and said that alternative housing would be provided to all the evacuees under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) programme. The railway authorities postponed the eviction following an assurance from the then district collector Navin Mittal that alternative housing would be provided to the encroachers in three months.

The rehabilitation has not occurred until now despite the fact that the Roads and Buildings (R&B) Department has agreed to bear the expenditure for providing electricity and water to the families even if they are put up at a temporary location.

The VMC had asked the R&B to provide facilities on land that belonged to the Labour Department in Vidyadharapuram. Subsequently, the R&B provided some necessary facilities for temporary rehabilitation. But, the Labour Department reportedly took objection to rehabilitation on its land. But, the VMC did not take any initiative to resolve the deadlock. Consequently, the R&B could not take up works of approaches to, and trumpet of the flyover, officials say.

It is learnt that R&B officials took up the matter with Labour Minister G. Vinod and Principal Secretary (Labour) Bhanwarlal. Though they have responded positively to the requests of R&B, they are said to have suggested that “a formal request and assurance” should come from the VMC. The Labour Department wanted an assurance that the “rehabilitation is temporary” and the VMC would evict the rehabilitated people as soon as alternative housing was provided, sources say.

The VMC, however, has not made any moves in that direction. The deadlock is likely to remain for another fortnight as Municipal Commissioner P. S. Pradyumna is on foreign tour to study Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), sources say.

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