GVMC To Reorganise Zones For Better Administration

Visakhapatnam: The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) is preparing for the reorganisation of its administrative zones likely in the first week of October, to improve efficiency and address concerns about overlapping constituencies. The proposal, which was approved by the GVMC Council four months ago, is awaiting the state government’s nod and the number of zones will increase from eight to ten.

Visakhapatnam initially had six zones when it functioned as a municipal corporation. The merger of Bheemili and Anakapalle municipalities expanded the number to eight, marking the formation of GVMC. However, the existing system has led to overlaps, with zones cutting across two or more Assembly constituencies. For instance, Zone 2 currently includes wards from both East and Bheemili constituencies, while Zone 3 covers areas in the North constituency as well.

Officials and public representatives say this overlap has complicated development discussions, often leading to delays in decision-making. When representatives from different constituencies are required to attend meetings for the same zone, achieving full participation becomes difficult, according to GVMC officials.

To address this, MLAs, corporators, and civic planners proposed reorganising zones to align each one with a single Assembly constituency. They also recommended renaming zones after constituencies instead of identifying them by numbers, to help citizens easily recognise their jurisdiction.

According to the draft plan, the large constituencies of Bheemili and Pendurthi will each be split into two zones, while East, South, North, West, Gajuwaka, and Anakapalle constituencies will each have one zone.

According to officials, the restructuring will simplify access to local offices for residents and help civic bodies address grievances and development needs more effectively. Once approved by the state government, the new structure will be implemented immediately.

The wards included in each zone are as follows:

Bheemili Zone-1: 1, 2, 3, 4

Bheemili Zone-2: 5, 6, 7, 8, 98

Eastern Zone: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28

Northern Zone: 14, 24, 25, 26, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 53, 34, 55

Southern Zone: 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41

Western Zone: 40, 52, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 89, 90, 91, 92

Gajuwaka Zone: 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 86, 87

Anakapalli Zone: 80, 81, 82, 83, 84

Pendurthi Zone-1: 88, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97

Pendurthi Zone-2: 77, 78, 79, 85