Guntur civic body plans modern and aesthetic makeover for city

Guntur: With Guntur city steadily expanding into a major urban centre, the district administration has drawn up plans to give it a modern and organised facelift through the development of aesthetically-designed, traffic-friendly, and safer junctions. The initiative aims not only at beautification but also seeks to address long-standing urban issues such as traffic congestion, haphazard road digging, hanging electrical wires, poor sanitation, and unplanned civic infrastructure works.Guntur collector and GMC special officer C M Sai Kanth Varma directed officials to scientifically redesign key junctions and roads across the city with a focus on safety, greenery and urban mobility. Along with municipal commissioner K Mayur Ashok, the district collector inspected several important roads and junctions before conducting a detailed review meeting with GMC department heads and officials at the municipal corporation office.During the meeting, representatives of Andhra Pradesh Urban Infrastructure Asset Management Limited (APUIAML) presented proposals through a presentation, highlighting plans for beautification and landscaping at major traffic junctions including Hindu College Junction, B R Stadium Junction, Collectorate Junction, Nagarampalem Centre, Chuttugunta Junction, and Medical Club Junction. Landscaping works along the VIP Road were also discussed.The district collector stressed that road construction works should strictly adhere to prescribed engineering standards and warned against the practice of frequent digging up of newly-laid roads for utility works. He made it clear that roads should not be excavated for at least two years after completion. To avoid repeated damage to roads, he instructed officials to coordinate in advance with the agencies involved in underground cable laying, drainage works, pipeline installation, and CCTV network expansion so that all infrastructure activities are completed beforehand.He further directed officials to ensure that junctions are designed scientifically to facilitate smooth traffic movement. He instructed them to construct proper table-top junctions, install high-mast lighting systems, and place traffic signals at suitable locations, besides incorporating attractive fountains, greenery, and landscaping to improve the city’s appearance. “No hanging electrical wires should be visible at junctions, he told officials, while asking for installation of proper signboards and cobblestone pathways on approach roads. “Footpaths across the city should have a uniform design pattern, while green belts and shade-giving trees should be developed extensively to improve the urban environment,” he directed.Reviewing sanitation and drinking water supply, the district collector instructed officials to ensure that not even a single diarrhoea case is reported in the city in future. He ordered a complete audit of all drinking water pipelines and warned that engineering officials would be held responsible for any contamination in water supply systems. He also directed officials to improve sanitation along national highways passing through the city and crack down on poster pasting near underpasses. To control mosquito breeding, anti-larval activities should be intensified and gambusia fish released widely in stagnant water bodies, he ordered.