As roads in the city worsen by the day, two civic bodies are busy playing the blame game.
While the GHMC holds the overflowing drains and pipe leakages responsible for the battered condition of roads, the Water Board (HMWSSB) faults the design of the roads itself.
“The roads are laid in such a way that there is no way the water can drain out fast,” says a senior officer in the board’s maintenance wing.
While GHMC commissioner M. T. Krishna Babu feels potholed roads are due to frequent sewage overflow, pipe leakages and water stagnation, Water Board officials squarely lay the blame on the GHMC for its shabby road design, which they feel has precipitated the crisis.
Roads in surrounding municipalities, where the Water Board has no network, are even worse. “Whom do you blame for this?” they ask.
Metro work
The Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) is also digging up main thoroughfares these days and taking its own time in restoring them. The GHMC fares no better in restoring roads dug up by the Water Board or the APCPDCL for power lines.
“So there is no point blaming the Water Board for the road woes,” is the pithy comment of Water Board officials.
Moreover, the Water Board does not undertake any road-cutting works during the rainy season, except in the case of emergencies. In fact, many requests seeking permissions for road-cutting are pending with the GHMC.
“Therefore it is wrong to find fault with the Water Board alone,” officials assert.
They also point out that the Water Board doesn’t pay for the relaying of the roads dug by it since the GHMC is not paying its share of 25 per cent property tax.
The charges are therefore ‘adjusted’, it is said.
