Commuters blame GHMC’s negligence

And while GHMC boasts that five - six, ultra-modern, high-tech ‘road doctors’ carry out long-lasting repairs instantaneously, there’s no visible improvement to the city’s roads, though crores are spent on the same.

Mr Bontu Sambi Reddy, who filed an RTI query on road expenditure, said, “Swachh Bharat Campaign cost the GHMC nearly Rs 400 crore just on campaign work. Over 415 nodal teams, each comprising seven members from relevant departments, covered the whole city for seven days. It was claimed that small repairs of road-cuts, clearing footpaths, cleaning silt deposits on sideways etc. was done then and there, using repair machines. But the monsoon arrived and the roads were back to their old state. Major junctions in the city were waterlogged. No words can describe the plight of commuters, especially, auto-rickshaws and two wheelers.”

Another reason for damaged roads is digging by state and private agencies. Lack of strict action by the GHMC has led to most contractors being let off the hook.

Till date, the GHMC has only taken action against two companies , in 2012 against CPD-CL and in 2014 against Reliance Jio , for damaging the city’s roads.

No other company has been fined or have had their permissions cancelled. A warning is the only thing the officials resort to as deterrence.

Currently the stretch from Neredmet crossroads up to Safilguda Gate is in a bad condition as the HMWS&SB has taken up underground pipeline work for Malkajgiri division under the World Bank project.

The works will finish in 2016 and till then the road cannot be repaired. It’s the same situation at Sindhi Colony, Wesley College (main road) and Minister Road.

GHMC has formed emergency repair teams that tour the city to identify potholes but the repairs are temporary and last only till the next spell of rain.