Congress MLC smells a rat in road works, seeks probe

Khammam: Deputy Leader of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP), Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy demanded that the State government conduct a probe into the misuse of public funds and take necessary action against the responsible persons.

In an open letter to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, he alleged that in the name of modernisation of Lakaram tank which is located in the centre of the city, a walking track of thee-and-a-half kilometres was laid spending Rs 30 crore public funds along with constructing a BT road on the Lakaram Tank Bund.

The works were launched by local MLA Puvvada Ajay Kumar and taken up by the officials of Khammam Municipal Corporation on February 2, this year but completed the works without maintaining standards, the Congress MLC alleged.

Due to rains that lashed recently in Khammam, nearly half kilometre of the BT road that was laid a few months ago was damaged totally and at many places several cracks were formed which made walking on the road difficult for the locals and the tourists who visited the tank bund, he alleged.

The local MLA, along with municipal officials concerned, the contractor and others indulged in large scale of corruption and completed the works without maintaining standards, he added.

Sudhakar Reddy demanded to probe by Vigilance and Enforcement and take stringent action against all responsible persons for misusing the public funds, he said adding that immediate steps should be taken for repairing the road for the convenience of people.