The Forum for Good Governance (FGG), through a letter to the Chief
Secretary on Thursday, has levelled allegations of misuse of public
money, on GHMC and the water board.

Both the public offices have
collected money running up to Rs. 120 crore on the promise of
constructing rain water harvesting structures, and failed to fulfil the
same, the letter alleged.

As per the Section 17(1) of WALTA Act,
GHMC must insist on construction of rain water harvesting structures in
all the residential premises having an area of not less than 200 square
metres. In case the owner fails to construct one, the Act authorises
GHMC to do it and recover the costs.

Section 17(2) of the same Act
stipulates that permanent water and electricity connections be extended
only after construction of the structures.

GHMC, taking advantage
of the provisions, began to collect cost of the structures at the time
of issuing building permissions, the letter mentioned. However, the
Corporation has not taken up construction of the structures in
individual houses, from the owners of which money was collected.

A
public interest litigation filed in the High Court by FGG had a counter
affidavit filed by the GHMC Commissioner B. Janardhan Reddy which
stated that an action plan had been prepared for the rain water
harvesting structures, and the amount collected from public was being
deposited in the GHMC treasury under separate head of account.

“We
have a reason to believe that just to close the PIL in High Court, the
Commissioner gave wrong assurance to the court,” the letter read.

Though
a few structures were constructed here and there, they are mostly in
common places, rather than individual houses. There is no account for
the money collected by GHMC, it alleged.

Meanwhile, an RTI
application to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage
Board (HMWS&SB) revealed that the Board had collected Rs. 20.65
crore for construction of the rain water harvesting structures from
people who had applied for water supply connection.

Of this, only
Rs. 88.13 lakh has been pent so far on establishment of the structures,
with no account available for the balance amount, the letter signed by
Secretary of FGG M. Padmanabha Reddy said, and pointed out that WALTA
Act does not authorise water board to collect such an amount.

In a few cases, both GHMC and water board collected amounts for construction of the structures, but defaulted on the same.

“We
have a reason to believe that about Rs. 120 crore collected by the GHMC
and the water board has not been spent for the purpose for which it was
collected from individuals.

It is a clear case of misuse of
funds,” the letter stated, while requesting the Chief Secretary for an
enquiry by appropriate agency.

We have a
reason to believe that about Rs. 120 crore collected by the GHMC and
the water board has not been spent for the purpose for which it was
collected from individuals.

M. Padmanabha Reddy

Forum for Good Governance