Ex-mayor takes on Bonthu on 2BHK

​Hyderabad: MIM councillors on Tuesday tried to corner Mayor Bonthu Rammohan over the State government’s flagship 2BHK programme under which one lakh 2-bedroom houses for the urban poor are supposed to be constructed in the city.

The MIM councillors, during the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s (GHMC) second general body meeting, questioned whether there was a possibility to construct 2BHK houses without allocation of funds or identifying suitable land for taking up the project.

Former mayor and Mehdipatnam corporator Majid Hussain during the Question & Answer session sought clarifications on several related issues from Rammohan on ways to realise construction of two-bedroom houses in the city without allocating funds to them in the corporation budget. He pointed out that the construction of one lakh 2BHK would cost Rs 1,500 crore.

Replying to the query, GHMC Commissioner B Janardhan Reddy said that allocation of funds would not be a problem. But, the prime challenge staring at the corporation officials was the reluctance of the existing slum dwellers to vacate the land and shift to other areas in the city, he said.

The GHMC Commissioner also said that land identification process had been completed in the city limits and they would send a detailed project report within eight days to seek the State government's approval. He said the civic body would complete construction of these houses within one year after completing the tender process.

The Mehdipatnam corporator alleged that the GHMC had a deficit budget against a surplus budget of Rs 570 crore in December 2014, when it was dissolved.

After appointing former GHMC commissioner Somesh Kumar as the Special Officer, the GHMC ended up with a deficit budget of about Rs 50 crore, he said. Majid Hussain alleged that the former GHMC chief had violated norms by cancelling several policies approved by the civic body.

Contradicting his previous proposal to allocate Rs 5 crore towards the development of each ward, Majid urged the Mayor to at least allocate Rs 50 lakh as they were facing a series of requests for development activities to be carried out in their respective divisions.

He also asked the Mayor to pass a resolution in the GHMC council in this regard. Responding to his proposal, the Mayor assured that the resolution regarding ward development fund would be tabled in the next meeting.

Out of the 16 questions tabled in the general body meeting, seven of them were from the former Mayor.
Meanwhile, the general body meeting unanimously approved the contract period of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation and extended its maintenance period to 15 years.

It has also approved Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, Plastic Management Rules 2016 and Construction and Demolition rules 2016.