Developmental claims in Jalpally contradict ground reality

Rangareddy: Despite the claims of fund allocation for developmental works in the Jalpally municipality, a stark contrast is visibly evident between the number of works approved with huge fund allocations and the works being grounded during the last three years.

According to officials, a total of 135 works worth Rs 1132.73 crore have been sanctioned under various schemes during the last three financial years. However, the ground reality speaks much about beating drums of development rather than a pragmatic approach to the public issues which remained unchanged for years in Jalpally municipality.

"A total of 66 works worth Rs 727.27 crore were sanctioned during the last three years under 14th and 15th finance grants, of which 60 works have been completed while remaining 6 are in progress," informed Ishrath Ayesha, Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) Jalpally Municipality. She added that apart from this, another 52 works under Pattana Pragathi Fund worth Rs 324.21 crore were sanctioned, of which 35 development works were completed while 17 are in progress. Similarly, 17 works worth Rs 81.25 crore under Green Budget have been sanctioned during the same period and all of them have been completed.

More so, a total of 40 works, of which 15 were sanctioned in the year 2017-18 and another 25 works under the 14th Finance were sanctioned in the year 2020-21, were executed by spending the funds to the tune of Rs 489.49 crore.

Similarly, 26 works (5 in the year 2020-21 and another 21 in the year 2021-22 under15 finance) were sanctioned, of which 20 works were said to have been completed while 6 others are in different stages of completion. For all of these works a separate fund to the tune of Rs 237.78 crore has been sanctioned. Altogether, Rs 727.27 crore has been approved for all the above 66 works being sanctioned since 2019-20.

However, unhappy with the way the municipality is performing, the locals have said that the officials are simply beating the drums of their political bosses while the ground reality is completely the other way around in Jalpally municipality.

Explaining the pathetic situation, Abdul Bari, a community activist said that sewage overflow can be witnessed in every street on a regular basis, while sanitation and regular water supply takes a complete backseat in Jalpally.

Abdul added saying that the municipality is highly impoverished and has been divided into 28 wards with 8 to 10 streets in each segment, which translates to 224 streets approximately. "However, except one or two roads in every ward, no other basic infrastructure like sewage, sanitation and supply lines for drinking water were developed during the last three years," he said.