Satellites Cities To Control Migration: CM

Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday stressed on the proper planned development of cities and the improvement of slum areas to avoid problems in urban areas. He was delivering the key-note address at the Administrative Staff College of India on "Urbanisation in India - Preparing for the urban challenges of the 21st century".

The Chief Minister said that it would be difficult to stop migration from rural to urban areas unless we concentrate on the development of rural areas, start creating job opportunities there, and make agriculture more remunerative. He said that unless we reduce the migration, the pressure on urban areas will continue.

"We have to decentralise development and increase the income of the rural people so that migration will not happen," he said. "What was Hyderabad when I was a student? What is Hyderabad today? There is no comparison. I never imagined it. The increased vehicle population is choking Hyderabad. This is the problem in every Indian city". He said that unless we plan the cities very carefully, it is very difficult.

The Chief Minister said that we have to develop satellite cities. We have to start thinking of planned cities. Projects are not completed on time. Basic infrastructure facilities are not being developed. Water, power and roads are becoming problem areas. We have to improve all these. We have to improve the traffic so that traffic bottlenecks are removed. The Chief Minister said "Take the instance of Ring Roads. When it was started there was lots of criticism, different types of criticism. I spoke in the Assembly defending the ring roads. Now I am happy that they are being completed, and when completed, they will change the very face of Hyderabad".

Kiran Kumar Reddy said that the fast movement of traffic is very important. “The purchasing power of people has gone up. They are purchasing more vehicles and there are more vehicles in houses today. The solution for this is that we have to provide a good public transport system. We have to educate people about traffic rules. I am happy that traffic rules in Hyderabad has today improved,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that yet another problem is a lack of utility of water and power etc, and wastage of the same. Better projects and its timely completion and less wastage are what is required today. He also explained about the "Mee Seva" project and said that today about 70,000 certificates are being given away every day on various subjects through Mee Seva. We will increase this to one lakh every day. This ensures transparency, clarity and avoids middlemen and corruption. He said that we have to develop systems and ensure transparency and clarity to the people for a better living.

Kiran Kumar Reddy also spoke about the slum improvement programme taken up in Andhra Pradesh under the Rajiv Awas Yojana whereby 1500 colonies will come up with all infrastructural facilities on par with the affluent people. He said that he was sure that the two-day workshop would result in lots of new ideas on urban improvement. He said that we should share each other's experiences.

ASCI Dean Prof V Srinivasa Chary welcomed the gathering. Municipal Administration Department Principal Secretary B Sam Bob, HPEC Chairman Dr Isher Judge Ahluwalia and others spoke. (INN)