Hyderabad, June 24: Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy on Tuesday asked the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to speed up slum development programmes and the Weaker Section Housing project. He expressed concern over conditions in many slums in and around the city. The Chief Minister wanted a special cell to be set up by the HMWS&SB to ensure good quality drinking water. The water quality should be checked constantly and Bholakpur incident should be taken as a lesson, he said. The Chief Minister has directed officials to complete the Master Plan for core area of GHMC in the next three months. He also directed that all the houses in the GHMC area should be given new numbers with clarity as per the newly constituted wards. There should be no confusion in house numbers, he said.
He asked the GHMC to streamline all incomplete road-widening and repair works. He wanted to ensure better planning and focused development, more equitable devolution of finances and utilisation of resources. The CM directed officials to ensure a uniform enforcement and administrative structure, facilitate improved and high standard of civic services. Make Hyderabad a slumfree city, he noted. The Chief Minister said that using the Master Plan as a tool for realisation of the vision, the Government approved a Master Plan for peripheral areas. He was told that the Master Plan for Core Area prepared in 1975 is being updated and is likely to be completed in the next three months by the HMDA.
Briefing newsmen later, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy informed that the State government would shortly have a review meeting with the Central government for implementation of MMTS Phase-II project costing Rs 614 crore.
The proposed project covers a distance of 67 km connecting Secunderabad-Medchal (28 km), Falaknuma-Shamshabad (20 km) and Secunderabad-Ghatkesar (19 km), the Minister added. Ramanarayana Reddy further said that the Chief Minister has ordered submission of technical reports for repairs of major drains in the city with an expenditure of Rs 1,500 crore. Besides, steps have been taken to complete Charminar pedestrian project in another two months. Already Rs 27 crore have been spent as against the sanction of Rs 35 crore for the project.
Steps have also been taken to complete the Sitaphalmandi flyover, Muslimgunj bridge and Musi river beautification project, he added.
Besides Ramnarayana Reddy, Minister Incharge of Hyderabad, Sabitha Indira Reddy, Ministers from the city, Mukesh Goud and D Nagender, Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, S P Singh, Managing Director, Hyderabad Metro Water Supply & Sewarage Board, M T Krishna Babu, Secretary, MAUD, Puspha Subramanyam, Secretary, Finance, Sekhar Babu and other officials were present.
–Agencies–