VISAKHAPATNAM: Officials in Visakhapatnam are getting ready for the city to receive Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and the CMO as the word is out that the CM will administer the State from Vizag starting Dasara. An elaborate exercise has been going on for the last several months in this regard with Jagan announcing his intention to shift his base from Tadepalli to Visakhapatnam during his visit to the Port City. According to official sources, Rushikonda is likely to be the location of the CMO though there are legal issues. Despite initial hiccups, the construction of buildings is going on at a brisk pace and they will be ready before Dasara. Construction of two of the four buildings has been completed and interior works are going on now. At least, a couple of buildings at Rushikonda will be ready for the CM’s residence. If there is any delay, Jagan is likely to stay in government buildings. The Port Guest House is one of the buildings, which may be CM’s residence. In case, legal issues are not settled before Dasara, officials are also looking for alternative places to house CMO, sources said. There is no dearth of space to accommodate the offices albeit temporarily. Three floors of the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) main building at Siripuram are vacant. Smart City building with 30,000 sqft is also ready for occupation and may be used for government offices. A large number of service apartments and commercial spaces are available at Madhurawada and Yendada. The vacant commercial spaces may be used for the government offices, whereas apartments will serve as quarters for officials, sources said. A five-member committee is likely to visit the city and finalise the buildings for the CMO and the CM’s residence. As a prelude to the shifting of the CM to the city, the Commissioner of Police post has recently been upgraded to the Additional DG rank and A Ravi Shankar has been appointed the CP. Proposals have also been made to set up a police station at Rushikonda in view of the likely increase in the movement of VVIPs. A proposal for the appointment of two joint commissioners of police is also on the anvil. The YSRC district office was recently shifted from Maddilapalem to Yendada. which is close to Rushikonda.
