Bad road conditions in the city came back to haunt the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) council which met here on Monday.
After members took a serious note of the existing road conditions and asked the officials to come up with immediate and appropriate remedies , GHMC Commissioner M.T. Krishna Babu promised to complete the works on damaged roads by October 10.
Concerns were repeatedly expressed by floor leaders and corporators of all the parties on huge funds running into several crores of rupees being wasted in the name of road maintenance without proper results. TDP floor leader Singireddy Srinivas Reddy pointed out that even a small rain washed away the roads and wondered why the problem recurred despite large amounts being spent on them.
MIM corporator Syed Abdul Haq Nazeer lamented that there was no end to filling of potholes and the same ditches surfacing while the denizens continued to suffer. He wanted the municipal engineers concerned to be held accountable for the road works executed under them.
Other members complained that contractors were taking up works at reduced costs, resulting in substandard executions. “Why are we pampering the contractors despite the poor works they do?” asked another MIM corporator M.A. Gaffar. Congress floor leader Diddi Rambabu said citizens’ money was being wasted due to improper execution of road works and said if the civic body does not act properly, it will be seen as ‘Baldiya, khaya, piya, chal diya’. There was uproar when Mr. Krishna Babu sought to explain that though almost 90 per cent of the roads were affected, the extent of damage was only around 67 km which is just one per cent of the total municipal roads running to 6,480 km. Mayor Mohammed Majid Hussain then announced about constitution of an all-party committee on road conditions in the city.
The council also discussed the lack of staff to monitor eateries in the city and the officials said 26 food safety officers were already sanctioned to help in better monitoring. MLA Mohd.Virasat Rasool Khan pointed out that though 352 properties were handed over, the corporation was yet to take possession.
The GHMC council on Monday condemned the alleged high-handed behaviour of the Cyberabad police during Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s visit to the west zone on Sunday.
Cutting across party lines, corporators objected to police stopping vehicles of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and the Commissioner. They saw it as an insult and sought an apology from the police. Mr. Majid Hussain said the issue resulted from ignorance on part of the lower rung police personnel and said clarifications would be sought about it.
The Council also dropped the proposal to name the ‘Butterfly Park’ at Jubilee Hills as Parvataneni Upendra Park after several members raised objections on grounds that Mr. Upendra neither hailed from Hyderabad nor “did anything for the city”.
