HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has identified 687 km of high-density main roads in the twin cities, that will be handed over to major private contractors for operations and maintenance. The contract will be for a period of five years.
A few days ago, a pre-bid meeting was convened by the officials with major infra companies like Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), L&T, NCC limited, B Seenaiah company and a few other major agencies. During the meeting, the list of 687 km of road stretches, proposed under the Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) system, was handed over to them for inspection. Another meeting will be held soon to decide the future course of action.
The proposed road stretches fall in the LB Nagar zone (128.07 km), Charminar zone (101.95 km), Khairatabad Zone (161.21 km), Serilingampally zone (113.10 km), Kukatpally zone (79.20 km) and Secunderabad zone (103.90 km).
The GHMC officials told Express that the list was made after the deputy municipal commissioners and engineering staff of 30 GHMC circles held detailed inspections across the city. The report was then submitted to the GHMC head office, they said.
The decision to entrust the maintenance of main roads to private agencies was taken after Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development KT Rama Rao expressed his unhappiness over the roads repeatedly getting battered at regular intervals. He had pointed out that the situation was causing hardships and inconvenience to citizens, and directed GHMC to allow private contractors to maintain high-density main roads in the twin cities.
Once the contract is approved, the maintenance of the proposed roads will be monitored by a third party, and the GHMC will have no role in the matter. Also, as private parties are going to be involved in the maintenance of roads for the first time, GHMC will be utilising the services of Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) to prepare a comprehensive report. The same will be submitted to the State government.