Congress Slams TRS For Bad Roads, Water Logging

The Telangana Congress has strongly condemned the TRS government for the deteriorating condition of the roads in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

"Due to continuous neglect, Hyderabad has now turned into the potholes capital of India. GHMC top officials themselves have admitted that there are more than 4,000 potholes on the city roads," Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Official Spokesperson Syed Nizamuddin said while addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan on Wednesday.

Nizamuddin said that the GHMC could not get away by blaming the rainfall for the potholes on city roads. "If a road is unable to withstand a few millimetres of normal rainfall, then it is clear that it was constructed using sub-standard material. Instead of giving a zone-wise list of the potholes, GHMC Commissioner Dana Kishore must explain why the quality of roads is so bad and what action he has taken against the contractors," he demanded.

The Congress leader brought up the "100 Days Action Plan" announced on February 18, 2016, by the then Municipal Administration Minister and present TRS Working President K T Rama Rao. "KTR had made several promises, and none of them have been fulfilled even after 1,265 days. KTR had also promised to pay Rs. 1,000 to anyone who showed a pothole on the city roads. Today KTR can change his offer to pay Rs. 1,000 for any road which is free of potholes," he said derisively.

He said that the GHMC had also identified 27 critical, 116 major, 133 minor and 32 other water-logging places. This clearly meant that almost all roads would turn into pools whenever it rained. Instead of finding a permanent solution for water logging, the GHMC was wasting tax payers' money on temporary solutions, he claimed.

Further, as many 13,509 families in 101 localities of 16 mandals were vulnerable to heavy rains, but nothing had been done by the government to find a permanent solution for them, he added.

"The people of Hyderabad had given the TRS a huge mandate in the GHMC elections. The party won more than 100 of the 150 seats. And yet it has done nothing to improve the conditions," he alleged.

The TPCC Spokesperson also said that the data placed on the GHMC website on the 100 Days Action Plan was inaccurate and misleading. "We've personally visited almost all 50 locations where the GHMC has claimed to have constructed/developed bus bays. At many places, either there are no bus bays, or old bus stops have been shown in the GHMC list as new. This is a major scam and a clear case of embezzlement of public funds," he alleged.