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Public money going down the drain
Twenty-two years may have rolled by since the authorities seriously felt the need for underground drainage system in Municipal Corporation area, but there was no change in the misery of the denizens, this even after the city embraced the ‘Smart City’ tag. Adding more to the people’s woes was the failure of the authorities to free the nallas (drainages) from encroachment.
Warangal: Twenty-two years may have rolled by since the authorities seriously felt the need for underground drainage system in Municipal Corporation area, but there was no change in the misery of the denizens, this even after the city embraced the ‘Smart City’ tag. Adding more to the people’s woes was the failure of the authorities to free the nallas (drainages) from encroachment.
A lot was discussed about Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC)’s preparedness especially after that nightmarish experience people witnessed last September due to the havoc created by torrential rain that lasted three days inundating several colonies.
With the authorities relying on temporary measures, said to be money-spinners for contractors, all the time instead of focusing on permanent solutions, the underground and storm-water drain systems remained on paper.
Firstly, the Corporation prepared a detailed project report (DPR) for installing underground drainage system in 1996 when Kakumani Padmavathi was the city Mayor. With no funds available, the Corporation tried to take up the project collecting a contribution of Rs 2,000 from each household, besides fetching loans from HUDCO. But the proposal didn’t materialise.
Recently, the GWMC got a new DPR prepared by the EGIS India Consultancy that envisages installation of underground drainage system with an estimated cost of Rs 1,250 crore. On the other hand, the drive to restore nallas to their original width that began in last September appears to have struck a roadblock.
But for removing some temporary structures belonging to poor, the GWMC, which reportedly identified more than 200 encroachments on storm-water drains, especially Naimnagar, Bondivagu and Bhadrakali nallas, allegedly failed to take action against the holdings belonging to rich and influenced.
Speaking to The Hans India, the Forum for Better Warangal president Pulluru Sudhakar said: “Literally, public money is going down the drain. Last year, the GWMC spent Rs 45 lakh on desilting of drainages. It happened during the last monsoon and the same is being repeated this year, instead of completing desilting works well ahead of the onset of monsoon.” Further, he stressed the need for a separate wing in GWMC for monitoring the nallas round-the-year.
When asked about the action against nalla encroachers, Mayor Nannapaneni Narender said: “As of now, desilting of nallas is in progress. Simultaneously, marking of encroachment is also being carried by the authorities.
As soon as the process of identification of intrusions along the nallas is done, we will initiate action against those encroachers.” He said that DPR of the city’s underground drainage system has been sent for the approval of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
