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.