Hyderabad, May 15: The Council Hall of the GHMC, `renovated’ grandly with a whopping budget of Rs 70-75 lakh, is ready for inauguration on Saturday, but the Opposition criticism that the cash-strapped urban body could have controlled the cost and diverted over two-thirds of the money spent for some meaningful development work in the wards has taken the sheen off the event.
“The renovation could have been achieved with a budget of Rs 20-25 lakh. There is something fishy,” said GHMC TDP floor leader Singi Reddy Srinivas Reddy on the eve of the hall opening by Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Anam Ramnarayana Reddy.
The TDP and BJP corporators are critical of the high spending just to increase the seating capacity from 135 seats to 215 by removing the visitors gallery, with no changes made to the design of the rest of the hall.
“What we want is development in wards like laying of roads, storm water drains and sanitation and not a lavish Council Hall,” Srinivas Reddy said.
Work on the `renovation’ began two months ago with the GHMC engineering wing making a plan to redesign the seating around the hall, built for 100 corporators seven years ago, in order to accommodate 150 corporators and 65 ex-officio members comprising MPs, MLAs and MLCs. While the existing tables were utilised, an additional 85-90 chairs were provided. The flooring, platform, microphone system and air-conditioning inside the hall were redone, GHMC commissioner Sameer Sharma said. Meanwhile, the proposed Rs 50-crore 15- storeyed central office-cum-council complex building near the Indira Park could not be taken up due to fund crunch.
–Agencies