The Hindu             11.07.2013

VUDA Housing Colony, a place for close-knit senior citizens

Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) Housing Colony, Seethammadhara was the next oldest colony after the A.P.Housing Board scheme which was established in the 1990’s when MLA Suryanarayana Reddy was the Chairman of VUDA. Located at the foot of the hills in a picturesque environment, the group housing project proved to be a bane to the middle class segment.

In the beginning in 1994 when the flats were constructed prospective owners were apprehensive on living in isolation as there were no other houses in the neighbourhood. However the emergence of multiple housing layouts including the LIC housing project and other private layouts over a period of time removed the tag of isolation and the whole region graduated into a posh and lively residential township.

Uma Prasad, secretary of the Seethammadhara VUDA Apartments Welfare Association says that in the rat race of life everyone is preoccupied with daily chores of life and one hardly finds time to know what is happening in their neighbourhood except on Sunday when one finds time to greet one another. However occasions like marriages, festivals and public holidays give one an opportunity to meet, to interact and to socialize and that is the time one can catch up with the happenings, good or bad, in the neighbourhood, she adds.

The real neighbourhood watchers are the 100 odd senior citizens who after shunting out their busy family members to their jobs finds time to meet at the colony park and discuss multiple issues like politics, neighbourhood issues, an upcoming marriage in one of their homes, an invitation to attend marriage anniversary of one of their sons in the midweek and the telephone call of their daughters living abroad and so on. Every day the senior citizen friends have ample things to talk about and each one shares the developments in their families in the past 24 hours. The morning meetings are lively with a minimum of 50 senior citizens gathering at any given time in the park they themselves had developed with lot of greenery including flora and fauna. Dr. Dasharath Ram, a general medical practitioner, one of the colony residents says that he whiles away time practicing medicine even at the age of 80 plus with his son living far away in a metro city. There was a time when grandfathers and grandmothers counted on their grandchildren to spend the rest of their life in the lively presence of grandchildren but now times have changed and to dream of such an interaction is a luxury. The emotional chords of love had broken away and become a casualty to the nuclear family concept. The band of the elderly grandfathers and grandmothers are lonely ones, carrying on their last phase of journey in pain, disappointment, with dreams unrealised and a sense of defeat. Today all that one has to contend hearing their just born granddaughter’s cry on telephone out there from America, says septuagenarian Jaya Lakshmi.

The senior citizens get together in the park is the only solace for us to live our tomorrows happily. Every meeting gives us hope to look forward to with a sense of belonging, says Dhanunjaya. We are channelising our energies together for the development of the colony, he adds.

About 144 families live together in the same number of flats in the ABCDEF blocks in the gated residential colony. Due to the efforts of the master association goods roads were laid, excellent street lighting is in place but the colony inmates are unhappy with the VUDA which failed to keep its word with regard to building a community hall. Even the present Vice-Chairman Yuvaraj too promised to personally visit the colony and do the needful.

The six residential blocks have one welfare association for each block apart from a master association which works for the integrated development of the entire colony.

Ram Ravi Shankar, a resident of the colony engaged with blood donation movement says that the colony is one family sharing joys and sorrows together. All festivals are celebrated with religious fervour and unity while women do pooja together. They make the colony colourful by organising cultural programmes and celebrating events, festivals and even family get-togethers. Gouri, an employee in a software company says the green hills, sight of rainfall and the fellowship of the colony inmates gives her reasons to rejoice. Most of the socializing takes place in the common festival celebrations and in family get-togethers at the block levels A to F. The residents are urging the GVMC to supply drinking water to the colony. Presently they are getting only the ground water supplied by VUDA housing water scheme. The residents regret that despite being in the heart of the city, the GVMC drinking water supply is not accessible to them.

We as residents are a happy lot. The residents need a community hall. VUDA promised to build one for us but even after two decades the promise is not kept. We also want the GVMC to extend its drinking water supply to us.

V.V.Narasimham,President of the residents association

We are happy to be part of the VUDA colony. It is a closely knit family. Though we are busy with our daily chores we find time to interact with one another during weekends. We celebrate living together and sharing joys and sorrows

Ram Ravi Shankar Patnaik,resident

AT A GLANCE

MLA Velagapudi Rama Krishna

Zonal Commissioner: Cell: 9848308824

3 Town Law and Order telephone: 2755517

Traffic & Crime : 2755348

Fuse Off Call Office telephone: 232739254

Electricity Assistant Engineer: 9440812522 Land Line: 2739254