HYDERABAD: The laying of concrete and other road repairs under periodical, prevention and maintenance (PPM) works of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has been put on hold in Hyderabad and Secunderabad for more than a month causing severe inconvenience to the people.
As the image of the city has taken a serious beating thanks to the pathetic condition of roads, former minister and TRS working president, K T Rama Rao had on several occasions said he would ensure that the condition of the cities’ roads are improved.
Nearly 50 per cent of PPM works which were scheduled to be completed within six months from April this year could not be finished. The contractors have stalled the laying of roads and lane marking under PPM works since two months due to nonreceipt of bills for already executed works.
The pending amount of Rs 100 crore has to be released by Hyderabad Road Development Corporation Limited (HRDCL) which was formed to generate funds for PPM works. However, HRDCL has failed to release funds to the GHMC through which works have been invited. GHMC Commissioner M Dana Kishore had written to the State Government requesting transfer of Rs 100 crore from HRDCL to GHMC for payment for works taken up under PPM by the corporation.
The requested amount has not been received by GHMC yet and at present, no balance is available in the said account. “This is the best season to lay roads, but we are losing time due to nonpayment of bills,” a worker said. According to GHMC officials, PPM road laying works has come to a grinding halt due to severe fund crunch.
The GHMC took up nearly 120 works at a cost of Rs 720.86 crore after receiving administrative sanction from the State government on January 31, this year. All the works were to be completed in six months, i.e. by September this year. Under PPM works, about 556 km of concrete cement and WT road works have been proposed. About 185 km of works costing Rs 68 crore has been executed (43 per cent).
Similarly, 487 km of 802 km bitumen road works has been completed.