Telangana Government to roll out plan for clean cities

Hyderabad: Aiming to develop every Urban Local Body (municipality) as a growth centre, the Telangana government is all set to create an Urban Centre of Excellence and bring in a comprehensive waste management policy this year.

The waste management policy, according to Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao, will cover all types of urban waste and will be applicable in all cities, including Hyderabad. He was releasing the Telangana MAUD annual report-2019-2020.

A self-certification, online-based, time-bound building and layout approval system, called TSBPASS (Telangana State Building Permission Approval and Self-Certification System), has also been finalised and it will be launched soon after the Cabinet approval.

The proposed Urban Centre of Excellence will prepare some more policies to promote the ULBs as centres of growth, the minister said.

Listing out a slew of measures taken to improve the infrastructure to elevate all the urban local bodies as the best liveable towns in the country , KTR said the Telangana Urban Finance Infrastructure Development Corporation has accorded administrative sanction for works to the tune of Rs 2000 crore in the 110 ULBs, out of 139 in the state.

KTR said the new Municipal Act 2019 had brought revolutionary changes in the administration of municipal bodies. Self assessment and online filing of property tax, instant approvals for almost 85 per cent of the cases (up to 240 sq yards) and earmarking of 10 per cent budget as "green budget" were among the salient features of the new Act.

The minister said that the Comprehensive Road Maintenance Project (CRMP) taken in GHMC limits is a first of its kind initiative wherein a competent, capable and experienced private player is entrusted with maintenance of a particular stretch of road, who will not only make capital investment in creating the road infrastructure to a set-standard, but also maintain the same throughout the contractual period of 5 years. About 709-km stretch of roads in the City has been entrusted to 6 agencies.

During the corona crisis, the Municipal Administration Department rose to the occasion, he said, adding that sanitation, entomology, disaster relief and water supply staff have been working 24/7 to ensure that basic civic services are maintained uninterrupted.

KTR said the Town Planning wing in the MA and UD has been delivering quick services through the Permission Management System (DPMS) in granting building permissions.