Visakhapatnam: The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has drawn up ambitious plans to create a better road network in One Town area of the city. But the plan of extending the existing road to 100 feet has been drawing the ire of the locals as it could bring down thousands of century-old jewellery shops and homes. The GVMC is insisting on the road extension, saying that it could change the face and the old city in Vizag in various fronts.
The widening of the road ranging between 30 feet and 50 feet from Jagadamba Junction to Kota Veedhi was proposed to 100 feet. The marking of the main road from Jagadamba Junction to Kotha Road (about 1.6 km stretch) brought to the fore the widening issue. Opposing the widening of the road, the traders and building owners have formed The Visakhapatnam Old City Building Owners and Merchants Association (VOCBOMA) to fight against the road-widening process.
Sources said that the issue may create unrest in the old city in the coming days as the traders and locals in the area are chalking out plans for massive protests against the widening of the road. Some people have filed a petition in the High Court against the widening. The business (gold, clothes and a few others) in One Town area has come down as several big jewellery shopping malls were dotted in Asilmetta, Dwarakanagar and a few other areas in the city. “Only some consumers, who are continuing the habit of purchasing gold in One-Town are coming to our shops and there will be no use of widening the road,” said Y Sudhakar, a gold merchant in One-Town area.
The One-Town area has created livelihood to more than 1.5 lakh people (either directly or indirectly). If the GVMC widens the road, more than 70 per cent of the 1.5 lakh people would lose their livelihood and there is no place to set up shops in the same area, said K.S. Rao, another businessman in the area. HRD minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao claimed that once the road is widened it would boost the business of the traders.
