Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has revised the Strategic Nala Development Plan (SNDP) proposals and enhanced the estimated project cost from Rs 858 crore to Rs 985.45 crore. It also released GO No 13 (12.01. 2022).
In its bid to complete all SNDP works prior to the onset of monsoon, the civic body has appointed three chief engineers.
It may be recalled that in 2020 and 2021, residents from several localities in the city were subject to severe hardships due to water inundations, caused by rains. In order to address this problem, the corporation divided SNDP works and handed them over to three chief engineers.
Prior to the decentralisation, all works were with SNDP Officer on Special Duty (OSD) C. Vasantha, which was delaying the execution.
The city has been divided into eight zones. One chief engineer will monitor LB Nagar, Secunderabad and Khairatabad zones, besides the municipalities of Pedda Amberpet, Badangpet, Jalpally and Meerpet, which bore a major brunt of the flash floods in the last two years.
Authorities have been asked to lay special focus on the nala connecting Bandlaguda and Nagole apart from the two-way bifurcation of flood water from Saroornagar lake to Chaitanyapuri nala. Despite the two-way solution, authorities said that areas surrounding Saroornagar lake would be inundated, albeit with minimal property damage, when compared to the previous years.
Chief engineer (projects) M. Devanand has been given SNDP works in Charminar zone and all other works related to nalas that do not come under the purview of SNDP. The current chief engineer C. Vasanta will handle the works at Kukatpally and Serilingampally zones and Nizampet, Kompally, Peerzadiguda, Boduppal municipalities apart from the Hussainsagar surplus nala and Neknampur lake works.
The work was distributed as Vasanta could not even complete the tender process till last August whereas the GO related to it was released four months before in April. Irked by the delay, Municipal administration and urban development minister K.T. Rama Rao convened a review meeting and decided to decentralise all desilting works.
A senior GHMC official said that the works in all six zones under it and two zones covering municipalities within the outer ring road (ORR) are being monitored regularly by Rama Rao.
Of the total 60 works proposed under SNDP, about 30 are in progress. Tender process has been completed for 28 works and there are no takers for two works citing legal disputes. He said that the corporation has already addressed major stagnation points and the city would face minimal urban flooding even if the rainfall is 20 cm in a single day.
