Hyderabad: The city road repair project has been moving one step forward and two steps back. Though officials from the engineering wing have prepared a plan for annual road maintenance, it requires a government order (GO) to start the project. And that is not forthcoming.
This apart, the government has asked the Hyderabad Road Development Corporation (HRD-CL), which was created as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to fund the road repair works, to knock on the doors of financial institutions to obtain Rs 1,500 crore in loans to carry out the road repairs.
Though the government has passed an oral order regarding the handing over of the roads for annual maintenance, the engineers are firm about getting a government order before the start the work.
According to highly placed sources in the corporation, the civic body has prepared four proposals pertaining to handing over road maintenance to private players. Since the role and responsibilities of the private agencies has been fixed in the proposals, the corporation’s officials can float tenders for approval.
A senior GHMC official said that the corporation has been doing the paperwork for the loan.
He said that 687 km out of 709 km of maintenance work will be handed over to the private agencies and the remaining will be executed by HRDCL.
He said that the HRDCL will develop model corridors and lay roads on the outskirts of the city. The civic body alone requires Rs 1,300 crore and HRDCL has the scope to borrow Rs 200 crore.
“The entire fund raising and tender invitation process will consume at least one month if the government approves one of the proposals and releases the GO,” he added.
