Hyderabad: Common man neglected as VIP lanes get priority
Commuters' ordeal to prolong till December, says official.
Hyderabad: Ignoring the troubles of the common man, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has decided to focus on road repairs only on VIP stretches in prime areas of the city. With Rs 50 crore left for road repairing works, the civic body officials have claimed the corporation would take up only emergency road repairs works until December. Officials said that commuters in the city should brace themselves for bad roads for a few more months due to several factors.
Apart from the financial crunch, the officials monitoring the road repair works have been deployed for election work which will keep them busy until 10 days after the state assembly election notification. However, the officials made it clear that besides taking up road repairs in prime areas, the corporation would fix them during ongoing and ensuing festivals until December.
Highly placed sources in the corporation said that the bankrupted civic body had shifted focus to the election, paralysing all departments. Specifically, with Rs 50 crore left for taking up road repairs, the corporation officials now claim that it could take up minor road repair works.
The corporation would be able to lay about 25 kilometres of new roads with the Rs 50 crore. In the last six months, the corporation has managed to lay 400 lane kilometres of BT roads in five zones.
Sources said the officials who had no vision, had taken up road milling at several stretches and laid a layer over them which made the surface more slippery.
A senior GHMC on condition of anonymity, said the corporation would be able to carry out emergency road repairs specifically in prime areas and during upcoming festivities like Dussehra. The official said that the corporation might be able to maintain city roads but only if they received funds from the Hyderabad Road Development Corporation as promised earlier.
“Commuters across the city have to bear bad roads at least till December since the civic body’s monthly revenue has been distributed among other wings to take up regular maintenance and operations,” the official added.