Municipal Administration Minister K.T. Rama Rao may be just about realising how difficult it is to get things moving in matters pertaining to urban development.
After publicly acknowledging the poor state of roads and drains, he read out the riot act to the municipal officials.
That was before the monsoon arrived. Now, that the rains have come even if not in the expected torrents, de-silting works in the shoddy storm water drains in Hyderabad got once again exposed when he decided to go on a midnight tour to see things for himself earlier this week.
Mr. Rao may have got a glimpse of what the commuters, especially two-wheeler riders, have been going through in the last few months having to traverse through pock-marked, slippery, uneven dug up roads and overflowing drains.
That is fine but what about his promise after GHMC polls to transform the city infrastructure. It has vanished into thin air.
Steering ‘power’
in every sense
People across the State who have some understanding over the present day politics, needless to say about those in power circles, know very well as to who is calling the shots in Telangana Government now.
Influence of this uncrowned prince has been so much that his unavailability has been forcing officials of other departments, with which he has no direct connection, to postpone some official event, not for days but weeks and months.
During the launch of some citizen-friendly online services of a department recently, a senior official quipped that the event was postponed for over a month due to unavailability of this force behind the wheel of power.
What raises eyebrows on this issue is that the “force to reckon with” has nothing to do with the department as it is manned by somebody else and that somebody has been available all through!
AP keeps shifting goalposts
The ambitious shift of the seat of power of Andhra Pradesh Government from Hyderabad appears to be hitting road blocks frequently.
While it was the reluctance of the employees initially, the move to shift the State Secretariat to Velagapudi in the new capital region has now slowed down due to local area status for employees.
The Central Government approved according local status to protect the educational and employment opportunities of the employees but the file is said to be doing rounds between the offices of the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary for fine tuning the notification after which formal orders are likely to be issued.
From the June 29 deadline issued in the past, the government has now extended the same to July month-end with apparently little hope that it will be met.
This MP leads from the front
TRS MP from Chevella, K. Vishweshwar Reddy, is walking his talk.
Mr. Reddy, a successful businessman, has taken it upon himself to ensure functional toilets in government schools of his constituency. Last week, he visited schools in a couple of villages of Chevella mandal driving a van equipped with tools and water to see for himself how his mission is working.
The MP has spent his money to procure the van and employed his men on the job.
The van tours a dozen schools in the mandal with men tasked with the job of cleaning toilets.
Netas hog
the limelight
Some can’t give photo opportunities a miss.
That is true in the case of political leaders who have gone on a spree to promote Haritha Haram programme of the government that is aimed at preserving and expanding green cover.
From standing in queue holding placards in support of the project to watering plants in public, the leaders are doing everything possible.
A Minister was seen wearing a crown of leaves on his head the other day when he went to inaugurate the green project in a women’s college inside Nampally Exhibition Grounds.
V. GEETANATH,
B. CHANDRASHEKHAR, M. RAJEEV, ROHIT P.S., & NIKHILA HENRY
