VISAKHAPATNAM: The
official process of the proposed merger of Greater Visakhapatnam
Municipal Corporation (GVMC) with Bheemili and Anakapalli municipalities
and 80 gram panchayats has came to an abrupt halt after the 12-member
Committee on Government Assurances of the Legislative Assembly (CGALA)
refused to approve the proposal at a recent meeting with officials from
the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) at Hyderabad.

Confirming the news, Visakhapatnam (North) MLA and one of the CGALA
members, Tynala Vijaya Kumar, said that the merger had been stalled at
the government level. “If anybody wants the merger in future, a fresh
proposal will have to be prepared again with prior approval from the
five MLAs and one MP under the GVMC limits as per the resolution passed by then GVMC council in 2010,” Tynala told TOI.

“After thoroughly examining MAUD’s reports and prolonged discussions on
the proposed merger of GVMC, the committee finally disapproved the
proposal and instructed MAUD officials to close the file,” Tynala added.

CGALA, which is constituted by the speaker of the Assembly, is
authorized to scrutinize the assurances, promises and undertakings given
by the chief minister and ministers on the floor of the Assembly. The
CGALA headed by Routhu Suryaprakasa Rao, an MLA from Rajahmundry, had
instructed the MAUD officials to attend a two-day meeting on Monday and
Tuesday to discuss the pending proposals, including the GVMC merger.

MAUD officials, including the principal secretary and special officer
of the GVMC, B Sam Bob, attended the meet. However, when the committee
asked the MAUD officials for details on the GVMC merger proposal, they
are learnt to have told the committee that it was only councils of
Bheemili and Anakapalli municipalities that were in favour of the merger
even as the GVMC council was against it. Moreover, they did not receive
any official assurance from the 80 Gram Panchayats proposed to be
merged with GVMC, the MAUD officials told the committee members.

While the CGALA’s decision has brought smiles on the faces of many
people, particularly Vizag MP and Union minister of state for commerce
and minister, D Purandeswari and her group, which includes state tribal
welfare minister P Balaraju and four city MLAs like Dronamraju Srinivas,
Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu and Malla Vijaya Prasad, it has sent shock
waves through those in favour of the proposal like state ports and
infrastructure minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao and his group, who had put
all their weight behind the merger move at the government end.

Expressing happiness over the CGALA’s decision, former TDP floor leader
in the GVMC council, Kona Thatha Rao, said GVMC should focus on
developing the 32 villages and Gajuwaka municipality that were merged
with it in 2005. “Nearly 28 per cent of the merged areas are still
suffering from lack of drinking water, education and even health
problems. If there is any development in favour of the proposal even in
the future, we will take on the government with Representation of the
People Act which played a crucial role in Karnataka and Gujarat,” Rao
said.

According to Thatha Rao, then commercial taxes minister
from Anakapalli, Konathala Ramakrishna, had mooted the proposals from
the government side and sent the proposal copy to GVMC through MAUD at
the end of 2009. The GVMC officials had put up the proposal before the
council in 2010 after which the then council members and mayor had put
off discussion on the proposal. The issue was again brought before the
GVMC council in 2011, when a majority of the council members rejected
the proposal.