KCR calls for facelift to Hyd

• Prepare detailed plans on ITIR to meet growing needs
• Focus on drinking water, drainage, better roads
• Brand Hyderabad image should be maintained
• Special emphasis should be laid on Old City

Hyderabad: After a four-month-long hiatus, the Secretariat building has come to life and a flurry of activity was witnessed in the A,B,C and D blocks which constitute the Secretariat of the newly formed Telangana State Government.

A day after the T Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao got down to business, the C block, which houses the office of the Chief Minister witnessed hectic activity with bureaucrats and politicians queuing up to meet the Chief Minister. KCR spent about seven hours in his office chairing various meetings.

KCR, who has an immediate task of winning the GHMC elections which are scheduled for November, held a review meeting with heads of all civic utility departments --Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB), in the state capital. The Chief Minister told the officials that since ITIR would be located in Hyderabad, officials should prepare detailed plans to meet the population growth. They should visualise the requirements of people for the next 30 years.

Rao said that once the ITIR became a reality, the population in Hyderabad would grow by 30 million in the next three decades. Hence the planning should be done keeping this factor in mind. Recalling the good drainage that existed in Hyderabad during the time of Nizam, KCR told the officials to focus attention on improving the drainage facilities. The city comes to a standstill within five minutes of heavy rains. The roads get flooded, low lying areas were inundated, he said. He also asked them to work out plans to see that the people in the city did not suffer from drinking water problems. He said special emphasis should also be laid on the development of old city.

Rao told the officials that the Brand Hyderabad image could be sustained and taken forward only when the city had best infrastructural facilities in place. The Government would be able to attract investments here only when there were good roads, power, water facilities and drainage system, he told them, Later, Rao was closeted with his six-member advisory group comprising A K Goel, K V Ramanachari, and Ram Lakshman in the evening.

They discussed about party priorities and various steps to be taken by the government for implementation of the promise it had made. Rao advised them to delegate work by distributing various departments among the team members. The Chief Minister's Office is still not fully functional as appointment of secretaries is due. The Chief Minister currently has only one Principal Secretary and an Officer on Special Duty to assist him in the administration. Two Secretaries were expected to be appointed in a day or two to enable the Chief Minister take up full-scale review of various departments, official sources said.

Congress MLA S Jeevan Reddy met him regarding excesses committed by bank officials in recovery of loans at a time when State government was expected to take a decision on loan waiver to farmers. Ministers Naini Narsimha Reddy, Etela Rajender, G Jagadeeshwar Reddy and TRS legislators D Vinay Bhasker, K Vidyasagar Rao, Nallala Odelu, Rasmayi Balkishan among others met the Chief Minister. State Information Commission besides several IAS and IPS officers met Chandrasekhar Rao and extended their greetings.