Visakhapatnam: The setting up of the Srikakulam Urban Development Authority on February 12 has raised questions as it why was the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority upgraded to Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority ( VMRDA ) at all.The erstwhile Vuda was upgraded as VMRDA in September 2018 after years of deliberations and brainstorming meetings. But just six months after the new alignment, the state government excluded 417 villages in 11 mandals and three civic bodies of Srikakulam district from the VMRDA to float the Suda. Moreover, it was learnt that the state government did not seek any opinion of the VMRDA before ceding the areas to Suda. Now, the extent of the VMRDA is lesser than the erstwhile Vuda, making the entire exercise of setting up the VMRDA needless.On the other hand, a majority of the villages and mandals, which are under the jurisdiction of Bobbili Urban Development Authority are rural parts of Vizianagaram district, while the urban parts of the district are with the VMRDA. Surprisingly, the development area of the Buda also comprises of some tribal villages and mandals, including Pachipenta, Makkuva, Parvathipuram, etc.YSR Congress city president Malla Vijay Prasad alleged the new urban development authorities have been formed to provide employment to ‘TDP men’ and undertake real-estate business on the pretext of urbanisation. “The government will nominate the chairpersons for these UDAs and can also nominate several members/experts of its choice for the new bodies,” said Vijay Prasad.The state government has constituted four new UDAs on Tuesday. Interestingly, Chittoor district got two new UDAs, including the Palamaneru-Kuppam-Madanapalli Urban Development Authority (PKM-UDA) with headquarters at Madanapalli and Chittoor Urban Development Authority (CHUDA) with headquarters at Chittoor. This takes the number of UDAs in Chittoor district to three, including the existing Tirupati Urban Development Authority.

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