If you thought the city will look brighter and better for a long time to come thanks to all the beautification works underway ahead of the biodiversity conference, you are mistaken. No less an official than the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner MT Krishna Babu put things in perspective on Thursday. “We have to show the flavour of our city to foreign delegates. We cannot transform the city in four months. We are trying to make the city presentable ahead of the Conference of Parties (CoP),” he clarified but hastened to add that “there are definite plans to continue the works for the entire city even after the CoP.”
During an interaction with the media here Thursday, the commissioner also admitted that he was unaware of the Planning Commission’s approval of Rs 300 crore for the CoP. “I came to know of it through the media,” he said and felt it was not anyway “helpful considering the shortage of time. The conference begins on Oct 1.
He, however, expressed confidence that the ongoing works, including recarpeting of roads, would be completed in 10-15 days. “We are working on a day-to-day action plan and I assure you we will have smooth and best roads for the conference,” he asserted adding that the rain and non-availability of sand were to some extent hindering the progress of works. Five third-party agencies have been appointed to report on the works on a daily basis directly to the commissioner himself. WAPCO Consultancy Services, JNTUH, Matrusri Engineering College etc were constantly giving feedback about the works, he said.
The Commissioner also clarified that beautification works amounting to Rs 170 crore were being taken up though the initial estimate was something around Rs 852 crore. Giving a breakdown of the expenditure, he said Rs 60 crore was sanctioned for recarpeting various roads. The Roads and Buildings department will recarpet 40 km at an estimated cost of Rs 30 cr whereas the National Highways would recarpet 18 km in the city for Rs 12 crore. The GHMC is responsible for the overall beautification works on the entire 125-km stretch.
On criticism over the works relating to storm water drains and restoring soil in the medians, he explained, “we have prioritized structures for storm water drains. Comprehensive development based on original design would be taken up for the entire city right after the CoP. Earth in the medians needs to be rejuvenated but in our city, we have not done that for at least 12 years.”
He had some bad news for the metro rail authorities. About the corridors near the Jubilee Hills where metro rail works would start soon after CoP, he said, “it would take at least two years for the metro works to start. Around one-third of our taxes come from that circle and also considering the amount of VVIP movement on these roads, it is a call we have to take to keep the roads presentable.”
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