VIJAYAWADA: Political parties have intensified campaigning for municipal elections in Machilipatnam. The contestants of various political parties are seeking public support for the first-ever elections being conducted for Machilipatnam after it being upgraded to a municipal corporation.
Drinking water, drainage system and infrastructure development are some of the issues that are plaguing the city for quite a long time now.
During British rule, Machilipatnam functioned as district headquarters for Krishna. The municipality has a history of over 155 years. In 1866, the coastal city was formed as Grade-III municipality and it is the second city in the country to have such a tag.
Later in 1980, it was declared a special grade municipality, however it took almost three decades for it to become a municipal corporation. Majority of people here are dependent on agriculture and fishing for their livelihood. In 2014, elections were held for Machilipatnam municipality in which TDP won majority of wards.
In 2019, the State government upgraded a few municipalities into municipal corporations. Machilipatnam was one among them. Of the total 50 wards in the city, 15 have been reserved for general women, seven for BC women, nine for BC general and 12 for general.
However, the general category reservation may pose a challenge for the ruling party while selecting a candidate for the mayor post reserved for women in the general category.
S Venkateswara Rao, a resident of Godugu Peta, said that drinking water is being supplied to people on alternate days. During summer, one can see serpentine queues in several localities of the city to fetch drinking water from tankers.
The water is supplied through tankers for only an hour daily and the groundwater here has high salinity. Though foundation stones were laid for laying pipelines to supply drinking water under AMRUT scheme, works are progressing at a slow pace. "Even though Transport Minister Perni Venkataramaiah hails from the city, no concrete measures were taken to provide drinking water through pipelines," he rued.
Another major problem haunting the city is lack of a designated site for dumping yard. Around 84 tonnes of solid waste is generated in the city. At present, all the waste is being dumped indiscriminately adjacent to Machilipatnam-Challapalli Bypass Road. Residents of SN Gollapalem, Seetaramapuram, BV Thota and Gudur hold their breath while passing through this stretch.
When it comes to infrastructure development, the city has huge scope for development like Chennai. "With the city located on the sea coast, steps should be taken by the government in establishing industries related to agriculture and marine products and provide employment opportunities for the local youth," said Y Satish, a lecturer at a private degree college in the city.
