Khammam: With the tenure of Khammam Municipal Corporation council set to end in a couple of months, political parties have started preparations to face the elections.
Khammam MLA and Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar asserted that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was well placed and fully prepared to take on the opponents. The Minister shared his views with Telangana Today on how the TRS earned public trust and was better placed than others in the run up to the elections.
You seem to be confident of winning the Khammam Municipal Corporation elections, what is the reason for your confidence?
My confidence comes from the trust which the public in Khammam placed in the TRS party and our leader Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. Many elections held in the recent past have proved this. I have always maintained close contacts with the residents and told our cadres to maintain cordial relations with the citizens.
Which political party is your main rival in the ensuing municipal elections?
As a matter of fact, there are no competitors to TRS in Khammam. The TRS is well placed to win all the municipal divisions.
BJP leaders, however, are making rather big claims about their election prospects in Khammam. How will TRS counter that?
The voters in Khammam are very shrewd when it comes to casting votes in elections. Decades of elections results proved it beyond doubt. BJP simply has no place in Khammam. We will make every effort to stop that party. The people here need development, not divisive politics in which the BJP is interested.
What is the status of development works taken up in Khammam city?
Many infrastructure development works have been completed while some are under progress. Khammam witnessed unprecedented growth in the past few years with funds released under Chief Minister’s Special Assurances and Special Development Funds.
Projects such as the new premises of Khammam Police Commissionerate built with Rs 6.37 crore, road over bridge (RoB) at Damsalapuram built with Rs 77 crore, Khanapuram Mini Tank Bund developed with Rs 1.55 crore, NSP canal walk way built with Rs 4.5 crore, Gollapadu channel modernised with Rs 70 crore and IT Hub constructed with Rs 27 crore have been inaugurated recently.
What are the works that gave you satisfaction among all?
Every development work that has been completed and put into use gives me pleasure. But to list a few, by completing the road over bridge (RoB) at Damsalapuram, we have addressed a decades old problem. The public was forced to spend hours at the railway level crossing as the frequency is high on Chennai-Delhi and Hyderabad-Vijayawada railway line on which the level crossing is situated.
Similarly, the modernisation of 14 km long Gollapadu channel that runs across 10 municipal divisions made me happy. Once it served the irrigation needs of local farmers but later turned into a stinky open drain due to the neglect by previous governments. Congress and TDP governments that ruled the State in the past failed to address it.
A couple of years ago Khammam Municipal Corporation (KMC) came up with a plan to modernise the channel and its surroundings that have been encroached by the local residents. In the first phase Rs 70 crore has been spent to modernise the area, which is now wearing an entirely new look.
What is the progress of Mission Bhagiratha works in Khammam city?
Mission Bhagiratha works are going on real fast. Very soon the residents in the city are going to be supplied drinking water on a daily basis. Probably in a month or so it will be a reality.
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