Hyderabad: 26 km dug up roads not repaired

Hyderabad: Mobile service providers, private cable operators, Water and Sewerage Board and Transco have together dug up 26 km of roads in the city and have not restored it.

The agencies have not only failed to meet the GHMC deadline but are continuing to dig main roads in the monsoon and this is leading to the threat of snapped electric wires.

The GHMC had asked all the permitted agencies to complete work before May 31 but is doing nothing to penalise them even as they continue working.

There are contractors who are digging roads illegally, and one was caught by the Deputy Mayor Fasiuddin at Yousufguda last week. The GHMC circle heads don’t even know where digging is being done.

Complaints from across the city are pouring in. Mr Sridhar Srinivas of Venkatapuram complained, “The stretch of road from Venkatapuram to West Venaktapuram (Alwal GHMC limits) was dug up for laying water pipes and sewerage pipes in Septemper 2015. Although it was done partly up to the bridge near the municipal water tap, the remaining stretch is yet to see any action.”

“It is really astonishing to see even newly laid roads are dug up again and again at several places by some of the locals residing near Dargah and Venkata-puram,” he said.

Mr. B.L.V Prasad of Mallikarjunanagar, Swa-roopnagar Colony, Uppal said, “The main CC road of our colony was dug up in the middle and industrial pipelines were laid. After completion of works, the dug up portion of the road has not been refilled with cement. Instead it was filled with mud and has been in the same state since then.”

He said that due to the recent rain, the condition of the road had worsened due to waterlogging. “It has become difficult for residents to commute as big ditches have formed in the middle of the road,” he said.

Mr Sai Kiran Burla of Mohannagar, Bajaj Colony Road No. 7, Nagole, added, “About four months back there was a lot of digging and drilling of roads because of the rain harvesting work towards Musi. After that nobody cared to close the holes properly. He said there were a lot of stones and mud around. “When it rains, the water gets blocked. People can’t walk on that road,” he said.

Apart from these areas, digging is being done in West Marredpally, Lakdikapul, Srinagar Colony and Sanathnagar. In GHMC limits, permission was given for diggihg 772 km of roads. Of these, 26 km of roads have not been restored.

Asked about this, GHMC commissioner Dr B. Janardhan Reddy told this correspondent: “The road digging work has been banned for the next six months. Work boards should be erected at the site for the convenience of the citizens to know the status of the work. Agencies that have crossed the deadline have been asked to finish works quickly, as the municipal administration and urban development ministry have proposed to hand over roads to private companies for maintenance.’’