VIJAYAWADA: As evening descends, disposable glasses and tidbits come out, liquor starts flowing and streets in Moghalrajpuram turn into open bars. Women and children fight shy of stepping out of their homes. Fear lurks in the locality as the two parks turned into tipplers’ den.
According to some section of residents, though a lot of fuss is made about Vijayawada being a part of State capital Amaravati, many of its posh residential localities have become a hotspot for hooligans who consume alcohol openly right under the nose of city police, making life miserable for residents. There have been instances of school students who got injured with the glass pieces, when they use the thoroughfare.
Several representations are made to the City Police and Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) officials over the issue, but no measures are taken in this regard. The parks in the colony are in a bad shape and is not maintained properly. One can witness filth and garbage with dogs and stray animals roaming in it. ‘’These stray animals are a big nuisance for the residents with special reference to children, the civic body should conduct a special drive and catch hold of the stray animals to provide respite for the residents in the colony,’’ says D Rajani, a resident.
‘’With inadequate street lights adding to their inconvenience, the locality became a romantic spot for youth in the evenings. Pedestrians are the worst-affected, who made several complaints to the police. But, the tipplers give a slip to police while they are on patrolling. The VMC should install LED lights in the locality to put check for the problem,” said T Padmavathi, private employee residing in the locality.
Another major problem haunting the locality was availability of vacant lands. With this sanitation staff are dumping the litter collected from the nearby colonies. The lack of dumper bins in the locality is also forcing the locals to the dump the waste in the tree guards that dot the lanes.
‘’Irregular garbage collection from the households is a major concern in the locality. A massive advocacy campaign coupled with a revamp of roads in the locality and facilitating enough garbage bins are a few steps that can be taken to improve sanitation in the locality,’’ says K Bala Koteswara Rao, a retired employee.
‘’The civic body has formulated an action plan to renovate the parks with basic infrastructure and play equipment which were located in the residential colonies. Recently, the VMC has renovated five major parks and estimates are being prepared by the horticulture officials in the three circles of the city,’’ said VMC Horticulture Officer Pradeep Kumar.
A meeting was also conducted with engineering department officials by Municipal Commissioner J Nivas over installation of LED bulbs in the residential colonies. Soon the works will commence in a phased manner, officials said.
Safe haven for boozers
Posh residential localities have become a hotspot for hooligans who consume alcohol openly right under the nose of city police
There have been instances of school students who got injured with the glass pieces, when they use the thoroughfare
The locality also became a romantic spot for youth in the evenings
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