HC stay halts Vizag night food court project, vendors left in limbo
A High Court order has brought construction work on the much-anticipated Smart Street Vending Zone — part of the night food court project on Old Jail Road — to a standstill, after a petition alleged that the ₹6-crore project was being executed without mandatory regulatory clearances.
The petition was filed by former Jana Sena Party (JSP) corporator P.L.V.N. Murthy, who alleged that the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) had floated tenders and commenced construction without obtaining the requisite approvals from the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA).
The project was designed as a tripartite initiative, with GVMC, the Mission for Elimination of Poverty in Municipal Areas (MEPMA), and the State government each contributing ₹2 crore. Murthy, however, alleged that the State government’s share had not been released when tenders were floated, and work was initiated — a procedural lapse that, he contended, rendered the project’s execution legally untenable.
He further alleged that construction activity near the compound wall of VMRDA Central Park was unauthorised and in violation of established planning norms.
Acting on the petition, the High Court directed authorities to maintain the status quo until the matter is heard further, effectively suspending all ongoing work at the site.
The court’s intervention has dealt a fresh blow to street vendors already enduring prolonged hardship. K. Srikanth, President of the Night Food Court Vendors Welfare Association, said vendors had been displaced since September 2025, when their shops were cleared to make way for the project.
“The moment construction resumed, it gave us hope that we would soon have a place to return to. The court order has taken that away again,” Srikanth said, adding that hundreds of families dependent on the food court for their daily income are now facing acute financial uncertainty.
He appealed to the authorities to resolve the legal and administrative disputes without further delay, warning that prolonged uncertainty risks pushing already vulnerable vendors deeper into economic hardship.
The matter is expected to come up for a further hearing before the High Court. With the status quo order in place, no construction activity can proceed at the site in the interim. Officials from GVMC and VMRDA are yet to formally respond to the allegations.