The Hindu 09.12.2013
A small, clean and green colony
With a population of over 10 lakh and a huge number of
people coming every day either for livelihood or other works, keeping
the city clean is obviously a formidable task but there are some
colonies which are able to give a tidy look, thanks to the special
sanitation drive conducted by Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC).
Here
is one such small and neatly-maintained colony situated opposite Auto
Nagar Gate in Patamata that’s envy for other habitations. It is
Lakshmipathi Nagar, one of the 18 out of 250-plus colonies which were
declared ‘litter-free’ by the VMC last year that still maintains a
‘clean track record’.
The colony is almost
three-and-a-half decades old and is largely inhabited by employees and a
sizable number of businessmen. For its cleanliness, it was declared as
litter-free and awarded a certificate of appreciation in August 2012 by
the then Municipal Commissioner Abdul Azeem.
Lot of greenery
Lakshmipathi
Nagar has only one main road flanked on either side by those of Bapuji
Nagar and J.D. Nagar and it has a lot of greenery thanks to the keen
interest evinced by residents and their welfare association
(Lakshmipathi Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association).
“We
have nearly 200 households, a reasonably well-maintained underground
drainage system and drinking water facility, but have no common facility
area where a park, a library or other such utility can be developed. We
are looking for a vacant piece of land for that purpose”, said
Association officer-bearers M. Lingeswara Rao (president), B. Ch.
Venkata Reddy (secretary) and V. Ravi Kumar (treasurer).
Helping them in the work are P.V.S. Kumar, M. Lakshman Rao, S. Papa Rao (former presidents) and D. Padmaja (executive member).
The
colony is otherwise a happy place to live in, situated as it is very
close to Patama Centre and Benz Circle. The land on which the colony
came up was owned by a landlord, Lakshmipathi Muppavarapu. It has since
been developed into a good residential locality. The focus is always on
sanitation and the result of it is there to be seen and emulated
elsewhere.
