Gandipet lake development fund reduced from Rs 100 crore to Rs 4 crore
Hyderabad: The HMDA has proposed spend Rs 4 crore to give a facelift to the Gandipet lake. The HMDA will build a ’zen garden’, kids play area, picnic zone, food court and provide shrub plantations and flower terracing with the money.
Two years ago, the HMDA had proposed a Rs 100-crore project for the same and had secured government approval but received a lukewarm response from contractors. It revised the project cost to Rs 26 crore a year ago, and has now settled on the Rs 4 crore project.
Among the earlier proposals was to construct a bund around the lake and set up a grill mesh at an estimated cost of Rs 18 crore. The proposal was to cover 25 km of the 48-km periphery of Gandipet. Agencies claimed that the project would be not viable and therefore did not participate in the bidding process.
The project was revised during May this year. Authorities said that the HMDA would construct an "eco-friendly recreational tourist destination", incorporating the best components available across the world and integrating them with the green cover. They said work was being taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 26.18 crore on 18 acres.
On December 20, the HMDA again invited two separate bids for development of greenery and landscaping works. In the first tender, the HMDA decided to develop 800 square metres (sq.m.) of the entrance road, 1,500-sq.m. main entrance, 1,934-sq.m. entrance foyer, 2,100sq.m. flower terracing, 100-sq.m. food court apart from landscaping with an estimated cost of Rs 2.03 crore.
The HMDA also floated a tender to develop, for Rs 1.97 crore, a kids play area in 4500 sq.m., picnic zone in 400 sq.m., apart from hedge , shrub planting, topiary, palms, garden tree planting and zen garden. The deadline was one year and the successful bidder has to maintain it for a year.
Prior to the 2018 Assembly polls, the state government has given administrative sanction for Rs 100 crore and had asked the HMDA set up a walking track, a cycling track, roads, chain link mesh fencing, street lighting, shoreline strengthening, and landscaping covering 25 km along the Osmansagar periphery.
Authorities even said that if everything works out as planned, Gandipet will host visitor amenities like a revolving restaurant, cable car, houseboats and night camping space. To begin with, HMDA will commission a 48-km chain link mesh fencing around the lake, inclusive of the 30-metre buffer zone. However, after three years, only minor developments were seen on the ground.
Asked about the delay and revision of the project from Rs 100 to Rs 4 crore, no HMDA official was ready to comment.
