T. Subbarami Reddy

HYDERABAD: The second biggest city in Andhra Pradesh, Visakhapatnam, poses a challenge to urban planners in tackling the problem of poverty amid plenty.

Over one-third of the 15-lakh population lives in slums in the fast-growing city, home to a huge steel plant, the only natural harbour on the East Coast and one of the largest ports in the country. Its 69 per cent literacy rate is higher than the national average and yet five lakh people are slum dwellers.

The 502 slums in the Greater Municipal Corporation of Visakhapatnam (GMCV) lack proper drainage, sewerage, drinking water supply and other basic amenities.

Union Minister of State for Steel and Mines T. Subbarami Reddy wants to change it all. Of course, he expects generous funding from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), for which the UPA Government has set apart Rs. 50,000 crore for a seven-year period. He is pressing the Centre to make the city slum-free in three years.

Mr. Reddy, elected twice to the Lok Sabha from Visakhapatnam and film producer, took an oath with city MLAs on Ambedkar Jayanthi this year to achieve this objective.

His proposal requires Rs. 2,000 crore to rid the slums of squalor and disease and build model colonies with 50,000 dwelling units — one for each family.

These will cost Rs. 550 crore, and sewerage, drainage, roads, water supply and Sulabh complexes Rs. 1,450 crore.

Construction of houses

"Work on 15,000 houses has begun with Rs. 160 crore made available under JNNURM.

A Central team has agreed in principle to sanction Rs. 400 crore each from the Ministries of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation this year.

Next fiscal

The balance will be sanctioned in the next fiscal," Mr. Reddy told The Hindu after meeting the team.

Funding, he said, should not be a problem as JNNURM funds were grossly unutilised. And, with the State Government determined to develop Vizag to attract Information Technology industries, it would contribute its 20 per cent share and the GMCV the remaining 30 per cent.

"After all, AP Government has got a Rs. 30,500-crore plan outlay sanction for 2007-08," said Mr. Reddy, who plans to donate funds from his TSR Charitable Trust.

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