Simmering differences between the elected representatives and officers of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) came to the fore on Thursday with Mayor Mohammed Majid Hussain seeking to reiterate the supremacy of the standing committee.
Speaking to presspersons, Mr. Hussain took umbrage at officials notifying eight road stretches in the central zone as litter free and wondered why the decision to declare only these 23 kms and not the entire city.
“We have a road length of 8,000 km and the GHMC has the responsibility of ensuring that the entire city is litter and garbage free,” he said.
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And on the caution of imposing penalties to those found littering on these notified stretches, the Mayor said that the civic body should first provide basics such as bins and tricycles then act towards imposing penalties.
The standing committee is the supreme body of the GHMC and it takes policy decisions, he said, charging officials of keeping it in the dark. Progress of works approved by the panel would be reviewed and hereafter deadlines would be fixed for officials, he said, even while stating contentious issues would be thrashed out.
Routine exerciseADVERTISEMENT
Later, when the pressperson met GHMC Commissioner, Somesh Kumar, he said the issue of litter free notification was not a new policy decision but was notified as part of a routine exercise.
“We have to do the same for the entire 8,000 km road length, but since we have an agency for door-to-door collection in these eight roads, we treat it as a pilot effort,” he said.
The committee can guide us and tell us what to do and what not to, but the statutory duties are also there,” he observed, when asked about the resolution to halt demolitions.
Seeking to downplay any friction, Mr. Kumar said, “We have been working together well like a family. If there are any small misunderstandings, we will sort them out.”