Hyderabad: Monday’s state Budget was keenly watched for the allocations to the infrastructure projects in the city which need a total of Rs 30,000 crore.
In the near term, the city needs about Rs 10,000 crore for ongoing projects like the Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP), the Musi Riverfront Development and Beautification project, the 2BHK housing project for the urban poor, nala widening and others. The lion's share of the projects are being executed by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
In the event, the government allocated Rs 3,284.03 crore for the municipal administration and urban development for the entire state.
The civic body had sent proposals worth Rs 1,350 crore but the government allocated a mere Rs 25.23 crore.
This will be barely sufficient to pay the bureaucrats, property tax, professional tax and motor vehicles tax.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority sent a requirement of Rs 1,300 crore, including Rs 3,38.52 crore for the Outer Ring Road and Rs 400 crore for the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) funds, to which the government has allocated Rs 10 lakh each.
Both the nodal agencies which had waited for the government allocations from its annual Budget to carry forward the Rs 24,000-crore SRDP, the Rs 8,500-crore 2BHK housing project for urban poor, Rs 1,600 crore for Musi beatification project, Rs 230 crore for the nala-widening project got a shock of their lives with the state government’s budgetary allocations.
The Hyderabad Road Development Corporation (HRDCL), created as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to fund road repair works in the city is also running out funds. The government has allocated Rs 400 crore during the last year and asked HRDCL to raise funds from the financial agencies to take up road repairs (including GHMC roads) in the city.
The corporation got a lukewarm response and repair works for about 5,000 km of roads were put in abeyance. The corporation along has laid only about 600 lane kilometres roads under the periodical preventive maintenance (PPM) process.
Succumbing to pressure from commuters, the corporation spent money from its treasury and the HRDCL is still craving funds. The government has allocated Rs 825 crore to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board against the Rs 2,300-crore proposal sent. Board officials claimed that the allocated funds would not even be sufficient to clear the arrears and oay for vital projects like the sewerage master plan and the water supply programme to villages within ORR villages would be put in cold storage.
Officials who participated in the review meeting chaired by MA & UD minister K.T. Rama Rao said he asked them to focus only on regular maintenance like roads repairs, improving city sanitation, collecting property tax and to explore sources for revenue-generation since the government has been facing a severe financial crisis.
They said Mr Rao also said that to focus on projects which are mid way and not start any new project until they receive instructions from the state government to do so. The situation has been similar with all 12 municipal corporations and 142 urban local bodies across the state.
