Visakhapatnam: Roads will look better by the end of this year, says GVMC Commissioner

‘About 7,000 potholes and the roads that need to be re-topped with bitumen are identified in the civic body limits’

The worn out roads in the city that has been the bone of contention for many, ranging from the residents to the political opponents, may look better by the end of the year, if the plan put forward by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) sets rolling in the next couple of months.

In an exclusive chat with The Hindu, GVMC Commissioner G. Lakshmisha said that about 7,000 potholes and the roads that need to be re-topped with bitumen also have been identified in the GVMC limits.

The corporation has divided the issue of roads into three segments – short term, medium term and long term.

“The 7,000 potholes that we are talking of are earmarked under the short and medium goals. These will be addressed within the next couple of months,” he said.

Coming to re-topping or relaying of roads, Mr. Lakshmisha said that the total extent of BT and CC road under GVMC is around 2,280 km and of which around 1,050 falls under the BT category.

“We have seen that around 20% of BT roads needs to be re-topped and a plan is ready under the Ward Development Project,” he said.

According to him, this year the GVMC could garner about ₹100 crore excess revenue and it is expected to do better in the next financial year. “This should give us the leverage to execute the plan and see that the roads are taken care of,” he said.