GHMC pays thrice for dumpyard

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has been paying thrice the amount required for capping the Jawaharnagar dumping yard.

The civic body pays to use the sand which has been removed from nalas and lakes to cap the huge mounds of garbage at Jawaharnagar.

As per norms, the corporation is supposed to pay only for silt removal and its transportation. But it has been paying for the sand, which is available for free, to cap dumpyard.

The corporation has been paying Rs 450 per cubic metre additionally for the free sand from nalas and lakes.

According to data collected from the GHMC, the corporation has been paying Rs 225 per cubic metre for the wet silt removed from nalas and lakes. It has been paying '422.92 per cubic metre to carry the silt from the point of removal to Jawaharnagar.

This sand is used to cap the dumpyard. Here, the corporation has been including the cost of sand at '450 per cubic metre.

A corporation official claimed that about 3 lakh cubic metres of sand had been desilted. Of this used 2.42 lakh cubic metres of sand was cap the dumping

A corporation official said the civic body had already capped 3.4 lakh sq mts out of the total 4.4 lakh sq m. at the dump yard.

When asked about the charging Rs 450 per cubic metre for capping works, the official said he was not aware of it.

He said since the bills were not paid to the agencies, the GHMC would immediately deduct the amount which charged for the free sand. He made clear that the an internal inquiry will be conducted to identify persons who manipulated bills and included the rate of '450 per cubic metre additionally.

The official said that the corporation had taken up Jawaharnagar dump yard capping in six phases and the first phase would be completed by the first week of July. The civic body has decided to conduct bio-remediation, bio-mining and capping.

The entire process will be completed by February, which would provide much awaited relief for Jawaharnagar residents.