Congress Asks What Happened To 10,000 Crore For City

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy demanded that the state government immediately announce the Monsoon Action Plan for Greater Hyderabad and take measures to prevent the city from further deterioration.

Reddy said that the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) was yet to draft the Monsoon Action Plan although the next monsoon was expected to hit Telangana in the next three weeks.

He said that neither were storm water drains cleaned nor lakhs of tonnes of garbage lifted from the city.

"The recent sudden rains in Hyderabad have already exposed the unpreparedness of the GHMC as many areas and roads got inundated after a short spell of drizzle. The TRS government has been playing the same track for the last six years that the storm water drains in Hyderabad were 70 years old and need to be replaced. However, it did nothing to either replace them or at least repair them at an appropriate time - i. e., before the onset of the monsoons," he said.

The Congress leader also asked whether the announcement made by the state government of spending Rs 10,000 crore on Hyderabad during the financial year 2020-21 still stood valid or had been withdrawn in view of the changed circumstances due to the coronavirus.

He alleged that the TRS government had no clarity on its priorities and plans. He alleged that it had no accountability, either.

"It simply makes fake promises and later makes false claims that all those promises have been fulfilled. After winning the GHMC elections, Municipal Administration & Urban Development Minister K T Rama Rao, on February 18, 2016, had announced a 100 Days Action Plan for Greater Hyderabad. Not even 1% of the promises made in the 100 Days Action Plan have been fulfilled even after 1,550 days today. Instead of giving the status report on the 100 Days Action Plan, KTR has started another publicity stunt - 10 AM, 10 Minutes," he alleged.

10 AM, 10 Minutes was a cheap publicity stunt KTR had borrowed from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Reddy claimed. "While it is good to create awareness among the people to keep their surroundings clean, those in power must ensure that they keep the entire city clean, which is not possible in just 10 minutes in a week. Hyderabad has witnessed a rise in cases of Malaria, Dengue and other vector-borne diseases in the last 3-4 years. Therefore, the state government should ensure that cleanliness is maintained in each and every lane and bylane of Hyderabad. Anti-larval and fogging operations should be conducted in all the vulnerable areas, and all lakes and other sources where rainwater can accumulate should be cleaned on a priority," he said.

The Congress leader advised KTR to come out of his "illusory world of All Is Well" and face the reality that Hyderabad had turned from bad to worse ever since the TRS had come to power in 2014. He said that while the combat against the coronavirus was still on, the state government should not neglect other issues like taking precautions to prevent the spread of other seasonal diseases.