The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has likely never operated without a Commissioner for as long as this.

A full-fledged Commissioner has not yet been appointed, despite district collector MN Harendhira Prasad leading the corporation as an in-charge Commissioner.

Although the State government views Visakhapatnam as a center for tourism, IT, and finance, many are surprised that the company was denied a full-fledged Commissioner.

Consequently, the municipal body’s management has gone awry. The GVMC staff’s accountability has completely collapsed in the absence of a committed Commissioner.

Due to the Collector’s already heavy workload, it has been difficult to devote much attention to the GVMC.

According to YSRCP officials, the coalition that took the initiative to remove former Mayor G Hari Venkata Kumari and former Deputy Mayor Jiyyani Sridhar is not showing a strong interest in selecting the Commissioner for the GVMC.

Despite the announcements made by P Narayana, the Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, and Lanka Dinakar, the chairman of the 20-Point program, during their previous trips to Visakhapatnam that a Commissioner will be chosen for the GVMC shortly, no action has been done in this respect.

The GVMC Commissioner used to be shifted often throughout the YSRCP’s term. This was particularly evident when the Commissioner declined to dance to the music of the YSRCP’s prominent figures.

It seems that the TDR fraud in Visakhapatnam was one of numerous scams that totaled hundreds of crores of rupees under the YSRCP’s rule. To reveal these frauds, the firm needs a full-fledged Commissioner.

It turns out to be a million-dollar issue, however, why the NDA administration has been ignoring the appointment of a Commissioner for so long after the last Commissioner, P. Sampath Kumar, was moved in January, only six months after taking office.