Velampeta to serve as blueprint for other slum redevelopment in A.P.

In a major push to transforming congested urban settlements, the Andhra Pradesh Government has cleared a new redevelopment model for slums, beginning with the Velampeta slum in Visakhapatnam. It may be remembered that the government has accorded permission to the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) to redevelop the Velampeta slum in zone-IV, ward no.35 under the Visakhapatnam Economic Region (VER) programme on a Design, Build, Finance and Transfer (DBFT) basis. Pilot project for other Vizag slumsSignificantly, the government has directed the GVMC to execute the Velampeta redevelopment in a time-bound manner and treat it as a pilot project for replication in other slum pockets under the Visakhapatnam Economic Region Programme. Statewide slum redevelopment policy nextMoving beyond the Velampeta pilot, the government has also directed the Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration to prepare a draft policy for slum redevelopment and middle-class housing, in consultation with all stakeholder departments. If successful, the Visakhapatnam model could emerge as a scalable framework for rejuvenating ageing and congested urban settlements across Andhra Pradesh while simultaneously unlocking economic value from scarce city.