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Flyover woes

Photo: k.r. Deepak

Sword of Damocles The fortune of the shop owners on the either side of flyover hangs in uncertainty

For the last two decades or even more, the road leading from Asilmetta to the Railway Station has been the lifeline for shop owners and traders. It has been the main artery route for the traders, as the road touches four main junctions: Asilmetta, RTC Complex, Sarat-Sangam junction and Dondaparthy. Both sides of the road, still stand to be lined with shops covering almost all sections: right from jewellery to stationery and eateries and from fashion outlets to banks and financial services.

The business had been great for many over the years, and quite a few could convert their small retails outlets to swanky malls within a short time. But for the last three to four years, they unite to say that, business has dropped by over 50 per cent and there is only one reason to attribute: construction of the flyover that the GVMC has taken up. Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) started work on a flyover from Asilmetta to Dondaparthy junction at a brisk pace, four years ago, but after the initial surge, the speed has been practically reduced to snail's pace, say the showroom owners.

“It was promised, that the construction would be at a fast pace, and so we thought that the effect on our business will be only for a brief period. But now, especially over the last one year, there is practically no construction activity. The road is spoilt and littered with construction material, there is no space for parking, the pollution level has gone up by three folds and because of these reasons - the flow of customers to our shops has dropped by over 50 per cent. Most importantly, for about a year the road was totally closed to traffic,” says V.J. Gupta of Gupta Brothers.

He feels that if decongestion of traffic was the idea, the authorities should have shifted the RTC Complex, which is the root cause for traffic congestion, to a place outside the city. “When we approached the GVMC authorities, they put the blame on funding constraints. If they did not have a clear understanding of the funding, they should not have taken up the project. Now we are in a fix,” says he.

The Branch Head of UAE Exchange Daniel and Habibullah Aarif of Aarifi voiced a similar concern. They feel that the civil society should have been consulted before taking up the project.

GVMC's view

The Chief Engineer of GVMC B. Jayarami Reddy informs that the construction work has not stopped, only the pace has reduced and it is due to the funding problem. “The flyover project is currently under the JNNURM scheme and is part of the BRTS project. The funding is shared between the Central Government, State Government and GVMC in the ratio of 50:30:20. At present, there is a ‘fund crunch' with all the three agencies. But we are expecting things to look up shortly, and we shall speed up the works.”

The project was initiated some time during 1994, and was identified to be built from the Rama Talkies area to Jail Road. But later it was found that it was more suitable to have it from Asilmetta to DRM Office, as the PHPDT (peak hour per direction trip) exceeded 5,000 trips in this direction. In 1994, the tenders were called for and later cancelled. At that time the funding was to be shared equally between the GVMC and VUDA.

Subsequently, it was redesigned and included into the JNNURM scheme, as sub-section under the BRTS.

The flyover will be about 1.6 km in length with a subway of about 4,000 metres at the Asilmetta junction. The flyover was initially planned from the Vemana Mandir at Asilmetta to DRM Office, and later it has been extended by over 525 metres to cover Dondaparthy Junction. The initial estimated cost was Rs. 63 crores and with the addition of the 525 metres it has now touched Rs. 88 crores (including the subway).

The Chief Engineer informs that the escalation cost has not gone up as anticipated due to the delay, and is expected to hover around 3 to 5 per cent.

“Once completed, the PHPDT in that area would come down by 50 per cent, as there would be three levels of thorough fare: Flyover, ground level and subway. It is going to be a landmark for the city. Along with the flyover, we plan to have service roads on both the sides, landscaping and well-designed parking space. The cityscape will change on its completion. The inconvenience is only temporary and the shopkeepers have to bear with it. We have completed about 62 per cent of the work,” informs Mr. Jayarami Reddy.

On the land acquisition issue with the Railways, he says, “The issue is related to the service roads. The Railways has to part with some extent of land for facilitating the laying of the service roads. We are negotiating with the authorities concerned and the file is currently with the Railway Board in New Delhi.”

The flyover was expected to be completed by March 2011, and now it is predicted to be done by March 2012, if the funding pours in time.

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