The initial efforts for getting two smart city projects to Nellore city and nearby Krishnapatnam industrial area did not materialise over the past two years even as the failed Trunk Road widening in the arterial localities caused major hurdles in the path of the city’s bid for development on a par with emerging industrial hubs.
In the beginning stages of proposed smart cities list at the national level, attempts were made to get this project for Nellore as Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, who hails from this city, was at the helm of affairs.
Expectations rose high at that time considering the fact that State Municipal Administration Minister P. Narayana also hails from the city and that he was also giving a major push to put the city on the national map.
However, all the things turned upside down what with the prestigious widening of Trunk Road in VRC Centre, Hotel Venkataramana Centre and Gandhibomma Centre reaching a dead-end because of the strong objections coming from different sections of society.
This project was considered crucial for declaring Nellore city’s readiness for greater development under smart city status as the Trunk Road was the only major shopping and lifestyle hub for the 6 lakh population of the Nellore city and surrounding merged villages.
Though there was no serious objection to road-widening initially, things turned bitter once this process was taken up in the arterial places like VRC Centre and Hotel Venkataramana area as these are prime localities for trade, shopping and businesses.
The building owners and shop owners mounted political pressure by sending a delegation of representatives to New Delhi at that time. They successfully blocked the road-widening project and stalled all efforts of the officials of the Nellore Municipal Corporation to go ahead with the demolitions.
At that time, the officials went ahead with the markings on the portions of buildings and shops for carrying out demolitions at Hotel Venkataramana area where a hue and cry was raised.
It was after the failure of this road-widening project that IAS officer K.V.N. Chakradhara Babu, who was the then Municipal Commissioner, was transferred amid reports of his tough handling of corruption and also his bid to ensure transparency in developmental projects such as Trunk Road widening.
In fact, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu made sure that an IAS officer was posted as the commissioner here at that time with a view to bringing in planned and faster development by getting the smart city project.
A section of people’s representatives had sought to revive the demand for smart city project recently but soon they were said to have given up the idea considering the developmental hurdles involved in this process.
