Vijayawada: The state government is worried about the black spots on the Smart City-Visakhapatnam, despite its efforts to give a new shape, after Hudhud. In fact, the CM’s dedicated efforts brought in a new image to the city of destiny. However, corruption issues, land scam and MedTech issues have adversely affected the brand image of the steel city. As part of correcting measures, the CM is contemplating to start a fresh exercise to give a new touch to the city, with different kind of development programmes.
There is no political administration in the Visakhpatnam civic body for the last 10 years and the TD cadres are desperately waiting for Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) elections. The TD chief has some specific equations for the GVMC elections to happen, said a minister for north coastal districts. In fact, before transforming into a Smart City, Visakhapatnam appears to have faced corrupt bureaucratic activities, and slowly started losing the confidence of the investors.
The city has witnessed the presence of ACB officials trapping several corrupt officials every other day. The engineer-in-chief of the public health and municipal engineering departments and a professor in the Andhra Medical College (AMC) were arrested a few months back on charges of possessing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income.
The accused Pamu Panduranga Rao of the public health department and N.B. Vijaya Kumar of AMC were reported to have possessed assets worth Rs 500 crore and later, Mr. Panduranga Rao’s involvement was noticed in the cost escalation scam, worth around '648 crore, that took place in the Ministry of MA&UD. The land scam has irked the TD a lot, as there was a war words between the two Cabinet ministers and recently, the MedTech scam, also hit the headlines.
The recent statement of the Union government in the Rajya Sabha over the huge loss, the RINL has experienced last year has disappointed the industry and entrepreneurs a lot. Similarly, the partnership summits organised in Visakhapatnam twice had a very little impact on the investments and there is a criticism over the lethargic approach of the industries wing and the APIIC in clearing MoUs.
