Mancherial: Demolition of integrated vegetable, meat market raises eyebrows

The demolition of under-construction integrated vegetable and market to establish mother and child hospital raised concerns over the lack of procedural credibility of officials

Mancherial: An under-construction integrated vegetable and market, for which the foundation was laid by the previous BRS government in Mancherial, was demolished allegedly without following procedure and permission from officials to establish a mother and child hospital here on Thursday.

The market was sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs 7.2 crore in 2021. While Rs 4.5 crore was sanctioned by the Municipal Administration and Urban Development department, Rs 2.70 crore was the share of Mancherial municipal. A resolution was passed to this effect and subsequently, the construction of the facility began. Work on the foundation and pillars of the facility were completed, spending Rs 3 crore. The work was delayed following the death of the owner of the executing agency. A Mother and Child Hospital was already established on a piece of land near College Road and on the banks of Godavari costing Rs 17.80 crore. However, the hospital was inundated by rainwater in 2022.

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MLA K Premsagar Rao announced that the MCH would be constructed at the site for the integrated vegetable and meat market for the convenience of patients, while he was addressing pressmen in Mancherial on December 19 last year. Rao claimed that building the integrated vegetable market at the IB chowk was an unnecessary move by the previous government.

Accordingly, the under-construction integrated vegetable building was razed amid tight security. Premsagar Rao then laid the foundation stone for the MCH. He said the facility to be attached to a super specialty hospital would be constructed soon. He stated that the estimated cost of the two facilities was Rs.300 crore. The government had already sanctioned Rs 50 crore, he stated.

However, officials of the municipality did not provide clarity over the demolition of the vegetable and meat market, raising eyebrows of many. They did not disclose the details of approval of the council of the civic body with regard to the demolition and orders of the government allowing the structure to raze down to the ground. Commissioner A Maruti Prasad was not available for a comment.