Hyderabad: Implement Municipal Act strictly, KTR tells officials

Hyderabad: Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao on Thursday asked the officials to strictly implement the new Municipal Act and prioritise the works giving importance to the basic needs of the people in municipalities.

The minister reviewed the various development and welfare initiatives that are being taken up in municipalities of erstwhile Khammam district. During the meeting, the Minister said that the government had initiated a series of steps to ensure local governance in towns and cities of the State is strengthened. "Government brought out a new Municipal Act called 'Telangana Municipal Act 2019', which is perhaps the most progressive Act in India and one of the most forward-looking urban acts in the world. He asked the officials to prioritise development works based on local needs and availability of funds.

The Minister highlighted the agenda of the government and said, "Our goal is to ensure towns and cities of Telangana have access to all essential amenities." The Pattana Pragathi funds are being released every month for municipalities and all the Municipalities should take up resource audit, sanitation audits, for their ULB.

The Minister said that the government increased the number of ULBs from 78 to 139 which also includes 13 Municipal Corporations. This would give the required impetus to these areas and would enable these urban spaces to act as an engine of growth. He instructed the officials to improve sanitation, drinking water supply, and greenery in the towns. He stressed upon the need to develop urban lung spaces and parks across all the ULBs. He asked the officials to ensure municipal staff is equipped with proper protective clothing.

The Minister said that a 10 per cent budget has been earmarked for a Green Action Plan and he also mentioned a Green Space Index for municipalities to be developed. This would be done to have a competitive spirit between municipalities in increasing greenery, the minister said. Shortly government would recruit additional staff for municipalities to ensure there is no shortage. He said that the Disaster Response Force (DRF) for Khammam Municipality to be launched soon. Minister P Ajay, MP Nama Nageshwar Rao, and others were present in the meeting.