2,000 slum dwellers damage GVMC building

VISAKHAPATNAM: About 2,000 slum dwellers from seven slums in the city under the banner of Murikiwada Nivasula Sanskhema Sangham gheraoed the GVMC office on Monday, in protest against forcible slum evacuation disrupting the Council meeting on budget.The agitators tried to enter the GVMC meeting hall and stopped corporators and GVMC officials from attending the meeting by blocking the entrance gates.When police tried to disperse the agitators for the smooth conduct of the budget meeting by resorting to lathicharge, irate slum dwellers manhandled women police and attacked the GVMC office with stones, damaging its ceiling.As few policemen, who were deployed for security at the Council Hall failed to control the mob resulting in utter chaos, some of the women agitators and two cops were injured in the incident.The agitators also tried to attack Senapati Vasanta, the corporator of Ward 71, who was rescued by police. Corporators and GVMC officials feared to come out from their rooms till police arrested the agitators.Some of the protestors said GVMC commissioner, B Ramanjaneyulu was forcibly evacuating slum dwellers for the benefit of realtors.GVMC should construct houses for slum dwellers at the slum areas only without relocating them to other places in the city, said agitators.Condemning the attack on the GVMC office, Ramanjaneyulu said some antisocial elements in the city, who are leading a lavish life, are misleading slum dwellers due to vested interests. About 741 slums have been identified so far in Visakhapatnam while GVMC has decided to shift slumdwellers belonging to 23 slums only to other places for development works, owing to legal disputes involved in the ownership of lands, he said. GVMC wanted to evacuate the residents as part of the beautification works of the city and promised slum dwellers houses under the JNNURM scheme, he said.GVMC was successful in evacuating two slums at Indira Nagar and Seva Nagar in the city and will further evacuate Omkar Nagar area in the city soon as the slum dwellers had encroached the lands of Waltair Division of East Coast Railway, he said.The railway officials have been requesting GMVC to evacuate the lands for development works to be undertaken by them, he said. GVMC will provide houses to all slum dwellers in the city, he said.