‘City of statues’ leaves people trapped in traffic

The city - once considered the state’s political capital - is known for its political philosophies.

In tune with this, statues of a number of politicos have dotted the city, thus giving it the title of ‘city of statues’.

More than 70 statues are erected across the city - some sculptures of Left ideologists are located in parks, causing no traffic issues.

But there are around 15 statues that cause hindrance to smooth flow of  traffic. Their installation on busy roads causes accidents too.

And the politicians here have planned to erect 15 more on roads soon.

The district level committee allegedly allows all requests it gets for erection of statues. In Vijayawada city alone, proposals have been made for setting up another 15 sculptures, mostly of former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

It is not a surprise therefore that the directive given by the Supreme Court in Jan 2012 to states, not to permit construction of statues on busy roads or on highways, is being hailed by many in the city.

K Raghuram, a resident of Bhavanipuram, said he faces inconvenience while returning home from office in Governorpet due to installation of Potti Sriramulu statue near Kanaka Durga temple.

M Ratnakar, a CA student studying in Kanuru, hates travelling between his home in Machavaram to Kanuru due to traffic problem caused by statues.

Other than sculptures of political parties, some people encroach roads and construct religious structures, adding to the traffic woes.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (traffic) AV Ramana said the police department too faces problems due to installation of statues. He said it was the duty of the local body to deal with such issues.

However, assistant city planner Sunitha said the VMC had not received any complaints from the public on traffic issues caused due to installation of Sri Potti Sriramulu statue on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad national highway. She said the civic body was not permitting installation of statues to prevent traffic problems.

To avoid traffic problems, denizens suggest allocation of one specific site for installation of statues to the civic body.