GHMC, R&B spar over RUB delay

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has blamed the Roads and Buildings (R&B) Department for a delay in the completion of the road under bridge (RuB) between Begumpet and Nature Cure Hospital, to be built at a cost of Rs 2.18 crore. 

GHMC officials have said the R&B authorities are not focusing on shifting several utilities, which is delaying the project. The R&B Department is supposed to shift sewage and water pipelines, electricity poles and underground cables to facilitate construction of the RuB, which will affect approximately 20 structures and will require several plots of land to be acquired.

Municipal Administration and Urban Development minister K Taraka Rama Rao has instructed the department to cooperate with GHMC in speeding up the construction of RuBs, though GHMC staff claim the line departments’ (the phrase ‘line departments’ requires verification) attitude remains unchanged, and instead of shifting the utilities, which is their job, they blame GHMC for the delay.

A senior GHMC official said the civic body has already submitted the general alignment drawing incorporating the drainage network to South Central Railways (SCR), and SCR authorities have furnished estimates for the construction of a precast reinforced cement concrete box. The official added that even though the GHMC has acquired the land, the task of utility shifting should be performed by R&B.