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VAMBAY woes: Congress MLA conducts sit-in

Special Correspondent

Finds fault with relocation of canal bund residents

AGITATION: The Congress legislator, Vangaveeti Radhakrishna (second from left), on hunger strike on Vijayawada city outskirts. Also seen are the VGTM-UDA chairman, Malladi Vishnu (extreme left) and the APSRTC Vijayawada zone chairman, Jogi Ramesh (ri ght).

VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada East legislator, Vangaveeti Radhakrishna, staged a sit-in here on Monday in protest against the "negligent attitude" of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation Commissioner, V. Usha Rani, in solving the problems of VAMBAY Colony residents. Mr. Radhakrishna was sore that several of his representations on this over the last 10 months went unheeded. He, however, called off the strike after the district Collector, Naveen Mittal, assured him that the problems would be solved in a month.

High drama was witnessed in the city in the afternoon when the legislator, returning from the VMC office, threatened to continue the "hunger strike" till concrete steps were initiated to solve the colony residents' problems.

Ample support

The VGTM-UDA chairman, Malladi Vishnu, and the APSRTC Vijayawada zone chairman, Jogi Ramesh, joined Mr. Radhakrishna in the protest. Their supporters raised slogans against the "indifferent" attitude of the Municipal Commissioner. Police officials, who rushed to the spot, tried to pacify the agitating leaders. But the latter insisted that they would call off the protest only after officials initiated appropriate action. They relented after Mr. Mittal intervened. The Collector also visited VAMBAY colony along with the leaders.

Time-bound plan sought

Trouble started when Mr. Radhakrishna, who visited the VAMBAY colony, on Monday morning went to the VMC office to represent the residents' grievances. He wanted the Commissioner to come out with a time-bound action plan. "They relocated the residents of canal bunds to the midst of sewerage canals. The officials failed to initiate action into several representations. Is this the way to handle such a sensitive issue?" Mr. Radhakrishna asked.

The Municipal Commissioner apparently tried to pacify the legislator by stating that works were underway to improve basic amenities in the locality and it would take some time for things to be in place. She also explained that she had visited the locality on Monday and instructed the officials to repair the drainage lines as well as roads. Dissatisfied with the official's response, Mr. Radhakrishna walked out of her office and announced the "indefinite hunger strike."

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