Visakhapatnam: Located near the seashore between two hillocks and endowed with comforting stillness, Visalakshinagar stands as one of the most serene and pollution-free localities in the city.
Once a secluded location for city dwellers, the colony has now metamorphosed into an elite locality. Originally started as a Revenue Colony in a 64-acre area in 1978, solely intended for Revenue department employees, many residential colonies have popped up there over the years. All these colonies are together called Visalakshinagar.
With the national highway on one side and the beach road on the other, the ‘Armed Reserved Police Battalion’ was the first colony here, even before the Revenue Colony came up.
Mr Nagalla Ananda Rao, a retired tahsildar and residents’ welfare association president, reminisced how they had to travel to far-off locations to even buy a packet of milk or see a doctor in the 1980s.
“Initially, many had not evinced interest to live in this once-sleepy colony. But now they regret their decision,” he said. The colony boasts of good amenities, including a community hall, a beautifully landscaped park, post office, banks, a few government offices, educational institutions and a mini-shopping complex.
Mr M. Bhaskara Rao, a resident of the colony for the past three decades, complained of lack of speed breakers. “Several accidents occurred due to speeding motorbikes. The burial ground here is a land under dispute. Only one bus used to ply from Old Post Office to BVK School in the colony in the 1980s. Time has brought many changes into the colony,” he said.
Mr K. Ganesh, another resident, talked of encounters with wild animals entering their colony from the neighbouring hillocks in the past. “The colony has no bus shelter for passengers. Even the frequency of the buses is somewhat confusing as either a few buses come together or do not come at all,” he said.
