Nala desilting works come to a grinding halt

​Hyderabad: The tussle between the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and private contractors has brought nala desilting works to a grinding halt.

The civic body officials have alleged that the contractors are submitting fake bills, but the contractors have blamed the former for levelling “false charges” as they refused to “give the money” as demanded by them.

According to the GHMC official, the contractors in the central zone had claimed payment for works by submitting fake bills. The contractors, the officials said, had even submitted false registration numbers of vehicles that were supposed to have been engaged to transport silt dug out of nalas.

This aspect of the fraud came to light during audit and cross-checking with the Transport Department the registration numbers of vehicles. He also said the civic body had already issued charge memos to 26 ground-level officials in this regard.

GHMC contractors’ association president, A Damodhar, said a top official in the central zone has been trying to fix them in false cases for not offering Rs 9 lakh demanded by him. He also said the contractors had obtained signatures from all official concerned to claim their bills.

The contractors even gathered signatures from locals (as a part of social audit), MLAs, corporators and others. He also requested GHMC Commissioner B Janardhan Reddy to look into the issue.

When asked about it, GHMC officials refused to give the information. They also refused to make the audit reports public. However, highly placed sources in the civic body said besides issuing charge memos, the GHMC Commissioner has also ordered Vigilance inquiry into the matter.

He said due to friction between both officials and contractors the desilting works in stormwater drains came to a grinding halt.