Poor coordination between decision makers

GHMC, take note 3

With just a few weeks remaining for the first Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections after the bifurcation, here is a look at existing situations that are in dire need of being addressed by the Corporation

Constituency: Kukatpally

Voters’ profile

There are nearly four lakh voters in the Kukatpally constituency with 73,886 voters in KPHB division, 59,243 voters in Moosapet, 92,770 voters in Mothinagar, 41,611 voters in Fathehnagar, 70,789 voters in Old Bowenpally and 43,830 voters in Kukatpally.

Poor coordination between Corporators, MLAs and the GHMC officials has resulted in halt of many ward-based development projects in the Kukatpally constituency.

Frequent public grievances include lack of basic amenities, water shortage, ill-maintained roads, no availability of streetlights and health and sanitation. All these issues were found to be registered with the respective area Corporators on regular basis in large numbers.

In addition, residents have also requested for special needs like setup of community halls, educational institutes, health centre, Road over bridges (ROBs) and Rythu Market.

The divisions, KPHB (division 117), Moosapet (division 118), Moti Nagar (division 119), Fathenagar (division 120), Old Bowenpally (division 121), Kukatpally (division 112) of the Constituency, which is considered as one of the busiest localities in the city, are covered with slums along with existence of residential colonies and commercial buildings. Up until now, the GHMC has received upto 2,902 public grievances cases from the six divisions (as of 2015).

Delay in minority edu institute

A resident of Pension Line in Old Bowenpally, Oman Abdullah informed that they had given their representation to the Corporator for opening of an educational institute in their locality but, have not received any response. “Since majority in the colony are Muslims, we had sought for opening of an educational institute for our children,” he said.

The area is home for more than 400 minority families. Locals have frequently requested for GHMC services, which are yet to be responded by the officials. When Hans tried to contact the ex Corporator, M Narsimha Yadav he refused to speak on the matter.

No talk over Bridge proposal

Around two bridge proposals at the Panduranga Nagar and Moti Nagar were halted by the Corporation from nearly five years. The result of which, locals are facing heavy traffic because of no better alternative.

An advocate and local of Panduranga Nagar, Srinivas Yadav said that the Corporation had inspected and made plans long back but, due to unknown reasons the Corporation did not go through with it. “The bridge plan was prepared from Panduranga Nagar to Moosapet through Maha Laxmi glass factory. The bridge could assist the locals to get direct access to the main road,” he informed.

According to the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) members at PR Nagar, another road development plan was also prepared, which connects to Borabanda but was not materialised.

Ex Corporator Syed Hussain, when contacted, said that they are many such proposals all over the Constituency, which got struck with the corporation. He said that during his course as Corporator, he had faced many issues with the local MLA, which affected most of his projects. “Due to political influences on the officials many of the public benefitting projects were stalled,” he revealed.

Blind eye on Rythu Market

Residents from Rehmat Nagar of Moti Nagar division are aggrieved over their delayed permissions for setup of a Rythu Market. A wholesale distributer and businessman of the locality, Vamshi said that they had made several requests for the Market, which got halted by the government officials in Secretariat. “Several vegetable hawkers are forced to sell their goods on busy roads, which cause heavy traffic jams during peak hours.

The matter is now with the government and we are expecting them to address it soon,” he hoped. The setup of Rythu Market will benefit the local residents of Kalyan Nagar, Rehmat Nagar and the surrounding areas. 50-bedded hospital still a dream

A civic worker from Bhagyanagar colony in Kukatpally, Srinivas said that there is no place in Kukatpally where a poor man can afford medical benefits. The request for a health centre has remained unattended by the Corporation. “We, along with the local Corporator, had worked on this issue with the Corporation but, we have not received any responses,” informed Srinivas.

A slum dweller from Pragathi Nagar, Kailash said that there is a heavy water shortage in their vicinity. Ex corporator, D Venkata Samrajyam informed that during her course she had initiated projects and solved grievances in her division. “I wanted to complete the works of the Community Hall in my division but, due to lack of support from the Corporation it remains pending,” she revealed.

While projects like the Indoor Stadium at KPHB receive the much-needed plunge and successfully begin (after three years of being approved), such things receive flak from the ruling party. The TRS members in the division condemned the start of the project commenting that it is initiated seeking desired public responses in approaching GHMC elections.

By G Bharat Krishna