The proposal to give a separate municipal status to Jawaharnagar gram panchayat is giving Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) the heebie-jeebies.
While moves are afoot to merge 33 surrounding villages of Ranga Reddy and Medak districts into the city, the municipal corporation has every reason to be apprehensive about Jawaharnagar being outside its administrative ambit. The area hosts the only garbage dump with close to 4,000 metric tonnes of municipal waste transported from various parts of the twin cities.
With the city expanding rapidly beyond the 350-acre site, local residents and public representatives have been protesting for the past few years about ground and air pollution in the vicinity. At frequent intervals, the garbage laden trucks were being obstructed and senior municipal officials have had to do much fire fighting to cajole the residents assuring measures of controlling the pollution. Unfortunately, reality is that the civic body has been unable to find another site in the neighbouring districts. Two sites earmarked for the purpose in Medak and Nalgonda districts have been a no go with the local gram panchayats staunchly opposing the move.
The Rs.434-odd crore Integrated Solid Waste Management Project being undertaken in the public, private partnership mode in association with Ramky Enviro Engineers for a scientific way of garbage collection, transport, reclamation, landfill, compost, etc., too is being taken up in Jawaharnagar.
Otherwise, senior officials accept that 33 ‘developed' villages joining GHMC made sense even if questions were being raised about the funds required to provide better civic amenities in them. Among these are: Ameenpur, Bachupally, Bahadurpally, Dulapally, Kompally, Nizampet, Pragatinagar, Bandlaguda, Hydershakotla, Kokapet, Mamidipalli, Manikonda, Narsingi, Peeramcheruvu, Puppalguda, Manchirevula, Gandipet, Vattinagulapally, Neknampur, Khanapur, Kismathpur, Himayatsagar, Balapur, Jelpally, Ootapally, Satamarai, Shamshabad, Boduppal and Thondupally.
