The Telangana Rashtra Samithi government is contemplating handing over of maintenance of roads in Hyderabad to private agencies.
Apparently, TRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his son, Municipal Adminstration Minister K T Rama Rao are extremely unhappy with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials in road maintenance.
Even a 10-minute rain is ruining the condition of roads, as the authorities are doing only cosmetic repairs, rather than taking permanent measures, they felt.
The Telangana Congress, however, strongly opposed such a proposal disclosed by KTR at a meeting. PCC treasurer G Narayana Reddy said the proposal was only aimed at benefitting the private companies and contractors and not at improving the conditions of roads.
"The GHMC roads remained neglected under TRS regime for the last five-and-a-half years. Not even one per cent of total budget was spent on maintenance or upgradation of civic infrastructure in State's capital. GHMC was continuously deprived of funds which deteriorated the condition of roads with each passing day. The quality was so sub-standard that they could not withstand a small spell of rains," he said.
The Congress leader asked KTR to first focus on filling up thousands of potholes on city roads and take up immediate repairs.
He said instead of taking up measures on war footing basis to improve conditions, KTR has been trying to divert attention from failures by proposing privatisation.
Reddy said that maintenance of roads was among the major responsibilities of any municipal corporation. However, by proposing to involve private agencies, TRS Government not only wants to dilute the role of GHMC, but also aims to cut the jobs in Engineering and other sections.