Hyderabad: Nature abhors a vacuum, as does a democracy. And just when a government thinks it has silenced all opposition, a voice of dissent springs from within.
As was witnessed in the Telangana Assembly on Wednesday, when ruling MLAs of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) rose to corner their own state government over the deplorable condition of roads, delay in taking up road-widening and lack of progress in various projects to construct bridges during the Zero Hour in the ongoing budget session.
Four TRS MLAs raised the issue of bad condition of roads.
Mr Koneru Konappa, legislator representing Kagaznagar, told the House that the road between Muraligudem to Bejjuru was in such weather-battered, dilapidated condition that even ambulances were fearing to ply on it.
“Two days ago, a pregnant woman delivered a baby boy on a tractor trailer while being taken to hospital for delivery. The baby boy died before reaching the hospital, due to bad condition of the road, a death caused by dereliction of duties by officials,” the ruling party legislator said.
The TRS MLA said that all roads that lead to mandals from his constituency headquarters were severely damaged, and lie in utter neglect. Despite complaints, they have not been repaired for past several months. Recent rains worsened the roads, already cratered, further.
A. Venkateswara Reddy, MLA, Devarakadra, brou-ght to the notice of the government, and people of the state, that his own government had demolished the bridge connecting Kothakota and Janga-maiahpally two years ago.
A new bridge, proposed to be erected at a cost of Rs 2 crore, was delayed due to a ‘re-design’, which upped the costs to Rs 2.5 crore, a 25 per cent escalation, but till date, no work has started.
K.P. Vivekananda, MLA, Qutubullahpur told the House that Telangana people were scared to travel on the Nizampet-Miyapur-Bachupally road as it was full of potholes, and scores of people had sustained injuries.
He said that while some portions of the road come under the GHMC’s jurisdiction, remaining comes under the purview of roads and buildings department, and both bodies have not taken up repairs.
Mr Vivekananda urged the R&B and municipal administration ministers to initiate repairs, else he warned, people of his constituency would start agitating against him and the TRS.
It was not an isolated day for the TRS government to face flak from its own legislators. A day prior, ruling party MLAs raised their voices over bad condition of roads in their constituencies during Zero Hour.
S. Ravi Shankar, MLA, Choppadandi, brought the notice of the government that people dreaded travelling on the road from Bowenpally to Kodurupaka, in the erstwhile Karimnagar district, because of its condition.
Pilot Rohit Reddy, MLA, Tandur said that everyday around 5,000 trucks carrying granite ply on the Tandur road to Hyderabad and Karnataka. Due to these heavy trucks, the road was severely damaged, and authorities not even bothering to take up repairs, said the MLA who had defected from the Congress to the TRS several months ago.
Dr M. Anand, MLA, Vikarabad, said railway overbridge (ROB) at Vikarabad was in a dilapidated condition and could collapse any time.
