Hyderabad roads more repairing instead of upgrading

The city has neither got more roads, nor are they being re-modelled. But, after Hyderabad Road Development Corporation (HDRC) was formed, more money is being spent on repairing the existing roads without upgrading them.The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation used to carry out annual maintenance of roads at a cost of Rs 500 crore until last year. It is now paying Rs 723 crore to the HRDC to carry out the same work over 300 km of roads.

The HRDC has spent Rs 400 crore out of the money allocated to it. The HRDC which has to remodel and strengthen the main stretches by laying white top roads and constructing stormwater ducts has been just recarpeting the existing ones. Besides, a large amount of money is spent as salaries for HRDC staff.

The HRDC was established as a special purpose vehicle to focus on city roads and protect them from frequent damage. During Phase I two years ago, the HRDC was handed over 240 km of roads which were maintained by the the roads and buildings department. Later, it has handed over another 60 km of roads bringing the total to 300 km.

Among the roads with the HRDC are the 19-km stretch from Miyapur to the Legislative Assembly, the Bowenpally-Assembly, LB Nagar-Assembly and Afzalgunj-Aaramghar roads.

Minister K.T. Rama Rao in March announced a corpus fund of Rs 500 crore for the improvement of roads under the HRDC. As many as 40 engineers including a chief engineer were recruited to prepare the city roads for the monsoons.

Acting against this plan, the HRDC has been recarpeting the roads without even milling them. A source asked what was the point in recarpeting the roads when there is no proper stormwater system.

Asked about this, a senior HRDC official said the corporation had prepared a detailed project report costing Rs 3,000 crore to white-top the roads and construct stormwater ducts.

He said that the government felt blocking roads for the work would inconvenience commuters, and would be time-consuming. The government felt this was not a great idea before the elections, and the corporation put aside the idea. It is just re-carpeting the roads, he said.

The official said that the purpose of setting up the HRDC was to raise funds through banks and facilitate the GHMC with additional funds, as it requires `1,000 crore for annual maintenance and the budgetary allocation is `500 crore. He said the city roads would be transformed from the next financial year.

A GHMC official claimed that the corporation had not received any money from the HRDC. He said that works worth `250 crore had been grounded, and government had assured payments through HRDC. He said that the issue would be taken to the notice of government as the GHMC cannot pay contractors from its own funds.

The HRDC and GHMC are paying out Rs 1,120 crore to re-carpet the roads, against Rs 500 crore until last year.