The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Vijayawada News : A never ending project

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 29, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada

A never ending project

By R.Balaji

Dont mistake it for a cattle shed! it is an elementary school run in the division after its building was dismantled to facilitate the construction of the bridge in Vijayawada . — Photo: Raju V.

VIJAYAWADA, JAN.28. It was a bridge that should have been completed way back in 1997 at a cost of Rs. 80 lakhs. But, thanks to bureaucratic apathy and dilly-dallying, the construction cost of Kurmaiah Bridge in the 34th division has escalated to a whopping Rs 1.80 crores.

But, residents of the division are hopeful that the bridge would be completed before the rescheduled time of November, 2005.

Once completed, the bridge would not only solve the burgeoning traffic problem in the division, but also substantially ease traffic congestion in several major junctions of the city, says, L.Venkateswarlu, a senior citizen in the area.

Escalating cost

The bridge was initially planned when Rajat Bhargava was the Municipal Commissioner. But, for various reasons, the execution was stopped midway. It was only in 2004, the project was revived by the corporation. By then the cost has escalated to Rs 1.80 crores. Once completed, the bridge was expected to provide a shortcut between Sambamurthy Road and MG Road.

Though the division has a considerable number of slums, it is one of the few places in the city which has got a 100 per cent underground drainage system. This had a salutary effect on the sanitation conditions and unlike other areas, the mosquito menace is comparatively less in the division. The division has a good number of CC and tar roads which were laid during the past five years. Water supply is also adequate in the division. But in view of the increasing population the corporation is now replacing the water pipelines from the existing four-inch diameter to six inches. Surprisingly while the division has got good roads, streetlights, drinking water and underground drainage system, there is no municipal school in the locality.

Ironically, the only elementary school run by a private trust which collects nominal fee from the students, is now functioning under an asbestos shed of a dhobi ghat!

Plea to shift school

The school was initially functioning at Murthy Veedhi, but to facilitate the construction of the Kurmaiah Bridge, the school building was dismantled by the authorities in June last year. Since then the school was functioning under the shed which is also used by the local washermen community for drying their clothes. The same place is also used for imparting education to over 300 students.

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