GHMC corporators raise a stink over sanitation

Civic body's meeting, held virtually, witnessed heated exchanges between elected representatives and officials

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) council meeting held here on Tuesday, though a virtual one for the first time in its history, was not short of the regular heated exchanges between elected representatives and officials. The showdown saw corporators from all parties accusing the civic body officials of turning a blind towards grievances, especially on sanitation.

Earlier, Mayor G Vijaya Laxmi along with GHMC commissioner DS Lokesh Kumar and other officials assembled at the GHMC head office to attend the meeting while elected representatives made their own arrangements. The meeting was held via the Cisco Webex app. While most of the TRS and BJP corporators logged in from party offices and houses, AIMIM corporators assembled at their party headquarters in Darussalam and participated in the meeting. There were 156 participants in all.

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The bonhomie appeared to evaporate soon after the Budget session ended with a heated session beginning, revolving around sanitation. With things appearing to go out of control, virtually, the Mayor played the peacemaker between the corporators and the officials.

Sanitation issues like delay in picking up garbage from households, removal of bins and unattended garbage at vulnerable points were aired by several corporators. TRS corporator from Chandanagar, R Manjula, demanded action against officials for delaying the stormwater drain works at Chinna Cheruvu. She also said drainage water from Ameenpur was mixing in the nala, causing difficulties to residents. TRS corporator from Chilukanagar, B Geeta Praveen Mudiraj, wanted to know when the graveyards in her ward would get a facelift.

“Our Minister KT Rama Rao announced that all crematoriums and graveyards will be developed on lines of Mahaprasthanam in Jubilee Hills. There are five such crematoriums/graveyards in my ward. When will they be developed?” she asked.

TRS Madhapur corporator Jagadeeshwar Goud on the other hand lauded GHMC officials, pointing out that despite the pandemic, several developmental works were taken up. “From frontline workers to top GHMC officials, all of them have done a good job,” he said. Former Mayor Majid Hussain of AIMIM lashed out at sanitation wing officials and questioned why the bins were removed in Mehdipatnam ward without increasing the number of vehicles to collect garbage.

SIDELIGHTS

Takes oath

Hyderabad: Before the budget session began, Congress party’s D Rajashekar Reddy, who was elected from Lingojiguda ward in the by-election, took oath as corporator. He was accompanied by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief Revanth Reddy.

Priority for Pattana Pragathi

Hyderabad: This year, GHMC has approved a budget of Rs 936 crore exclusively for Pattana Pragathi. The programme will commence from July 1 and continue till July 10. As part of the 10-day programme, GHMC will take up ward-wise developmental works, including preventive measures against seasonal diseases, clearing water stagnation, fixing waterlogging points, spraying and fogging. Planting saplings in open lands and distributing saplings under Haritha Haram and clearing debris along main roads are other activities.

Also read:

GHMC council okays Rs 6,841 crores budget

First ever virtual council meeting of GHMC begins

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