HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) would be the first civic body in the country to entrust the maintenance of 600-km of high-density main roads in Hyderabad and Secunderabad to private agencies for five years for which the corporation will have to pick up a bill of Rs1,500 crore.
The State government is keen on roping mega infrastructure companies such as L&T, Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited (MEIL), NCC Construction company for the purpose through tenders.
The decision was taken following instructions by Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) KT Rama Rao, who held a detailed review of road conditions two days ago.
The job of identifying busy stretches in each circle for this purpose has been handed over to the respective deputy commissioners. The maintenance of the proposed roads would be monitored by a third party. Based on the third party report, payments would be made through zonal commissioners in equal monthly instalments duly deducting penalties. Apart from the roads, medians, flyovers, bridges, elevated corridors, footpaths, road cutting and others would also be entrusted to the agencies.
GHMC is planning to utilise the services of Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) to prepare a comprehensive report to submit it to the State government for issuing necessary orders.
Senior officials told Express that initially, GHMC would hand over 600 km of main roads to private agencies. Road maintenance includes emergency, routine, periodic and disaster maintenance, carrying out of unscheduled maintenance occasioned by unexpected exigencies like accidents, natural calamities, abnormal weather conditions. The contractor has to deploy required men, material, machinery for maintenance of the roads. They have to attend to waterlogging, water stagnation points and black spots. Raising catchpits and manholes, replacing damaged catchpit covers and manhole covers, debris removal from the footpath would also be part of their work.
Every year during non-monsoon months, the private agencies will have to recarpet the required stretches in the first three years. It has to ensure that total road area under contract is recarpeted within five years. During monsoon months, pothole filling and bad patches have to be attended.