GHMC told to give 500 cr to HMR

Hyderabad: After bailing out the Road Transport Corporation (RTC) and Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) from financial mess, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has been once again directed by the State government to shell out Rs 500 crore for the land acquisition for Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd. (HMRL).

A senior GHMC official told The Hans India that the State government has asked the corporation to bear Rs 500 crore for acquiring as many as 273 properties in the civic body limits in this regard. The GHMC has been feeding HMWS&SB by paying Rs 162 crore, about 15 per cent of its annual property tax collection of Rs 1,080 crore. It is paying about Rs 35 lakh towards salaries and electricity bills of the Water Board every month. The civic body has also supported the city RTC with Rs 200 crore.

The State government has already spent about Rs 918 crore and acquired about 1,100 properties in the GHMC limits for the HMRL project. As part of its present phase of purchases, the GHMC has already identified about 136 properties at Kachiguda crossroads, Badi Chowdi and Andhra Bank areas in Koti-Putlibowli stretch. The estimated cost for acquisition of these properties at this stretch is about Rs 160 crore. The GHMC land acquisition wing has to acquire mark the remaining properties in the city with Rs 340 crore.

Objecting to the State government’s decision, a GHMC official lamented that the civic body has already been overburdened with Rs 1,000 crore payments, which is going to the increased salaries of RTC and water board contract and regular employees. “If the GHMC is allowed to bleed, then a day is not far away where it would be in financial crises like the Water Board and RTC,” he complained.