VIJAYAWADA: The maiden council meeting of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) after the YSRC came to power is scheduled to be held on April 17. After the completion of five year tenure of TDP rule in June 2019, the Corporation is under special officer rule till March 2021.
In the elections to 64 wards held in March, the YSRC won 49 divisions, TDP 14 and CPM one. With only a week left for the maiden council meeting, corporators are chalking out strategies to identify solutions for the perennial problems plaguing their divisions including drinking water supply, underground drainage (UGD) works, public health and pending projects which need to be highlighted during the meeting. The meeting will be chaired by Mayor Rayana Bhagya Lakshmi. In a first, the council has 35 women corporators.
A couple of days ago, a delegation of YSRC corporators from the Central Assembly constituency called on Municipal Commissioner V Prasanna Venkatesh and gave a detailed presentation on the problems plaguing their respective divisions that include irregular drinking water supply, poor drainage system and bad condition of roads. A few corporators also sought the civic chief to depute more sanitary workers based on the population and replace the defunct streetlights in their respective divisions.
AP Brahmin Welfare Corporation Chairman and MLA Malladi Vishnu, who also participated in the meeting, along with the corporators informed the municipal commissioner about the foul smell emanating from the bioplant at Rama Nagar Colony (Division 59) causing severe inconvenience to the public. In return, Venkatesh vented his ire at the sanitary workers over poor sanitation in the Central constituency. He told the corporators to monitor whether sanitary workers are attending to their duties in their respective divisions.
Among the 14 TDP corporators, seven of them are experienced and they are chalking out strategies to corner the YSRC on issues such as revision of property tax on value of land, slow pace of stormwater drain works in various divisions, bad condition of roads, poor sanitation and other issues.