GHMC Neglecting Development Works In Old City: Congress

Hyderabad District Congress Committee (DCC) President Sameer Waliullah has accused the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) of neglecting the Old City when sanctioning development works.

"The GHMC Standing Committee, in its last meeting held on 4th January, approved nine proposals. However, not a single proposal was for the South Zone (Old City). Of 150 wards, as many as 43 wards are in the Old City of Hyderabad. However, the South Zone / Charminar Zone is not being given its due share in the GHMC budget," Sameer Waliullah said.

Sameer Waliullah alleged that a major portion of the GHMC budget was being spent on the municipal wards on Hyderabad's outskirts with the Old City being completely neglected. He said that the GHMC had not taken up any new project in the Old City in the last 4-5 years. Further, the works on the expansion of some roads in the Old City had been delayed for more than four years, he lamented.

"This discrimination against the Old City is highly intolerable," he said.

The Congress leader added that some GHMC officials had created a false impression that the people of the Old City did not pay any taxes or contribute to the corporation's revenue. These false perceptions had been created to justify the neglect of the Old City, he claimed.

"In the Early Bird scheme, the GHMC collected about Rs 741.35 crore in property tax in April 2022. The least contribution of Rs 69.64 crore was from the Charminar zone. It was therefore alleged that although the Old City area was densely populated, it had many unregistered properties, and therefore its contribution to property tax was the least. Consequently, the GHMC stopped sanctioning new projects for the Old City. This approach is not acceptable," Sameer Waliullah said.

"It might be true that the Charminar zone gets the least collection in terms of property tax. But thousands of shops located in the Old City make a huge contribution through GST and other taxes. Further, it was wrong on the part of the GHMC to expect revenues from an area where no major development projects have been taken up in the last eight years. The GHMC should focus more on areas with less income as they need better infrastructure for growth," he said.

Sameer Waliullah demanded that the GHMC release a White Paper on the ward-wise or zone-wise collection of revenues from all sources, and also the zone-wise details of the spending done in the last eight years.

He also announced that the Congress would soon compile a list of the promises made by the TRS (now BRS) government for the development of the Old City, along with the status of their fulfillment.