Telangana Municipalities Are Dens Of Corruption: Congress

Congress MP & former TPCC President N Uttam Kumar Reddy accused the TRS government of neglecting the municipal administration across Telangana, especially in Hyderabad, by not releasing the required funds.

Reddy was speaking to the media after staging a dharna at the Huzurnagar municipality on Friday to protest rising corruption and lack of development in the municipality.

"Almost all areas of Hyderabad are witnessing water-logging and huge traffic jams after every drizzle. The TRS government has been promising a permanent solution to water-logging after every monsoon since 2014. But nothing has changed in the last eight years. This year, too, the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad are facing the same problems - the inundation of low-lying areas, and water-logging on several thoroughfares. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is unable to execute any major works due to the lack of funds. And the situation is not different in other municipal corporations and municipalities where development has come to a standstill due to neglect of the TRS government," he alleged.

"Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had once promised to develop Hyderabad on the lines of Dallas. However, his government has failed to even maintain what was developed during the previous Congress regime of 2004-2014. All activities of the GHMC have come to a halt after contractors went on a strike demanding that their dues of nearly Rs. 1,000 crores be cleared immediately. The proposed 100-day Action Plan launched by the TRS government in 2016 failed to take off even after 1,000 days now," he added.

The Congress MP pointed out that the TRS government did not spend the funds earmarked for the second phase of the Strategic Nala Development Program. Citing information procured through an RTI query, he said that as against the budget of Rs. 209 crore for the second phase of the SNDP, only Rs. 16 crores (7.86%) had been spent so far.

"KCR is spending huge money on making false claims of development, but his government is not spending any money on solutions to the problems of flooding being faced by the people," he alleged.

He added that the TRS leaders were creating a huge hype about 16 Urban Local Bodies bagging Swachh Survekshan awards, but were not talking about the remaining 130 ULCs where the condition of the civic amenities had turned worse in the last eight years.

Speaking about the Huzurnagar municipality, the MP said that the Congress staged a dharna to protest the rising corruption in it and the lack of development in its jurisdiction. "General body meetings of the Huzurnagar municipality are not being held regularly. The new Municipal Law has given some emergency powers to the district Collectors. However, the Suryapet district Collector is misusing those powers as 'routine' by not holding general body meetings. Also, several municipal lands are being grabbed by the TRS leaders in connivance with the local civic authorities," he claimed.

He said that it was shocking that documents of municipal lands had been stolen by the TRS leaders, and that nobody in the government seemed to be bothered despite several complaints having been lodged against the same. Things had reached a stage where the Municipal Commissioner had given a written complaint to the police of his signature being forged, his computer hacked and false documents created to usurp the properties of private persons.

"In the present TRS regime, there are no checks on anybody, and unbridled corruption exists all over the State," Reddy said.

He added that the Congress would continue to protest against the "deteriorating situation" in civic conditions across Telangana, especially Hyderabad.