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Development works in Secunderabad Cantonment affected
Development works such as maintenance and repair of buildings, internal roads and improvement works pertaining to water pipelines have come to a standstill as the Secunderabad Cantonment Board SCB has no more funds to take up works In many colonies, the contractors stopped work citing delay in release of payments
Secunderabad: Development works such as maintenance and repair of buildings, internal roads and improvement works pertaining to water pipelines have come to a standstill as the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) has no more funds to take up works. In many colonies, the contractors stopped work citing delay in release of payments.
Underground drainage works in several places including Gun Bazaar, Wahab Nagar, Seetharampur, Saibaba Colony, Kiran Enclave at Sikh Road, Balamrai, Pavan Vihar at Bowenpally, Srilanka Basti to CBN Nagar, Swami Narayana temple to Patny Compound are in various stages of completion. Barring a few, majority of the works are incomplete.
Similarly, maintenance and repair works in internal roads too are pending. After the recent spell of rains, the condition of roads deteriorated further. Murali Mohan, a resident of Krishnanagar Khatta says, “People have been complaining for ages but the condition of roads has not improved.” The water pipelines across the cantonment were laid several years ago and the population increased by leaps. Suryakumar, a resident of Doveton Bazaar said, “There is a need to replace 50mm dia GI pipeline with 100 mm DI pipeline in several areas. These works need to be taken up earnestly, lest there is chaos.”
SCB officials say that development works cannot be taken up as funds from the Ministry of Defence towards service charges are piling up and touched Rs 450 crore. Ward No VIII member J Loganadham said, “The Cantonment Hospital and community hall works are pending and several works pertaining to the maintenance of roads, drainage and water too are not complete. There is a requirement of Rs 5 cr to Rs 6 cr for all the works to be completed.” Spread over 42 square kilometers, the Secunderabad Cantonment Board has to maintain cleaning, sanitation and garbage collection.”
Piecemeal release of money is the reason for the works not progressing said a senior SCB official. He added, “There is a trend of releasing Rs 20 crore but for the largest cantonment that caters to more than 4 lakh population, this is simply not enough,” says Raghunandan, a chartered accountant and resident of Risala Bazaar.
Earlier this year, board members met the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who assured them that the matter would be taken up. J Maheshwar Reddy, ward number 1 member said, “Over the years the arrears have accumulated, as a result, civic works are delayed. The population has increased several notches and the drainage and water system need a complete overhaul. Without funds we are literally caught on the back foot.”
BY T P Venu
