City IT SEZ in the dark

However, employees of IT companies at the SEZ are still put their safety at stake everyday, as dark pockets exist on the hills due to lack of streetlights.

Along with this, there are a host of other issues which plague the IT SEZ hills and discourages many employees from working in the city as they wait for greener pastures in other cities.

P. Kishore (name changed), an erstwhile employee of an IT company at the SEZ and who recently shifted to a company in Hyderabad, says, “At many points on the hills at Rushikonda IT SEZ there are no streetlights which makes it scary driving along the road for those who leave offices at night. Medical emergencies are a nightmare as for the nearest medical store or clinic an employee will have to travel down the hill, at least 2-3 kilometres.”

He further adds, “Even to have a quick bite we have to travel at least 3-4 kilometres to a local fast food joint. The APSRTC bus service which operates for IT SEZ employees is not proving of much use. Its frequency is less and it has no operations at late night when many employees sign off from their work. Because of this, they are forced to bring their own commute and drive along the unsafe roads.”

The provision of amenities like streetlights at the IT SEZ was the responsibility of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation until a few weeks ago but now with conferment of the Industrial Area Local Authority (IALA) status upon the Special Economic Zone, it lies with the APIIC. However, many hurdles have crept up into it and the sad state of affairs of SEZ is continuing.