HYDERABAD: With nearly half the population of the state residing in urban areas, infrastructure and integrated comprehensive development of urban local bodies remains a priority, said MAUD Minister KT Rama Rao on Friday, July 9, 2021.
Rama Rao, who released the fourth MAUD annual report 2020-2021 in Hyderabad, said that the year was marked by one of the biggest global crises in modern history, namely Covid-19, and that MAUD remained a prominent face of governance during the pandemic.
The state government made use of the two lockdowns by taking up major urban infrastructure projects, such as laying green field link roads, building flyovers, RuBs, RoBs and recarpeting existing roads. The MAUD effectively utilised 12-16 hours every day for these works as the roads were more or less empty during the lockdowns. It completed several projects in record time of 2-4 months, the Minister said.
Rama Rao announced that the State government has decided to construct 15 new bridges across the Musi river. “This is long overdue and will not only help millions of commuters, but also ensure the opening up of new areas for planned development,” he said. MAUD Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar added that the department was planning to set up an Urban Centre of Excellence, which would emerge as the hub of urban research, startups, training and conferences.
All in a year’s time
During the year 2020, the MAUD had proposed 49 works under 15 packages. It also proposed the development of 2,067 tree parks in the ULBs and multi-layered avenue plantation along 400 km of road, in addition to water supply schemes. Other accomplishments include: