The Hindu Business Line : Greater Visakha comes into existence

GREATER Visakha has come into existence, after the clearing of all legal hurdles, with the merger of Gajuwaka municipality and 32 villages in the vicinity in the Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation.

The Government Order was issued in Hyderabad late on Monday evening, after the High Court dismissed petitions against merger of some of the villages in the VMC.

The merger of Gajuwaka municipality in the Visakhapatnam Corporation is significant, as most of the major industrial units such as the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, the Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels and the Hindustan Zinc, now a part of the Sterlite group, are situated within its limits.

Till now, only the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and the Visakhapatnam Port Trust are paying property tax and other taxes to the VMC.

With the merger of Gajuwaka municipality now, the income of the VMC might go up by Rs 30-40 crore per annum.

"It is an excellent move. It will pave the way for the creation of the infrastructure necessary for promoting balanced industrial growth in the vicinity of Vizag and with so many new units coming up, we need to have a central authority," said Mr N. Janardhana Reddy, the former chief minister and the present member of the Lok Sabha from Visakhapatnam.

It should not be difficult to obtain funds for the development of urban infrastructure in Greater Visakha.

"In fact, Mr S. Jaipal Reddy, the Union Urban Development Minister, has recently informed me that Vizag has been chosen as one of the cities to be developed under a Union Government scheme with Rs 50,000 crore outlay, to be launched shortly. I am sure Vizag will get the due allotment out of the sum," he said.

Mr N. Srikanth, the Municipal Commissioner, said the formation of Greater Visakha would be of great help in developing the city.

"In fact, this is the model, or pattern, of development followed in most countries and I am sure it will succeed here too," he said.

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