GHMC officials leave corporators high and dry

The 11th meeting of the committee which was to be held at 3 p.m on Tuesday was postponed as additional commissioners, engineering-in-chief (ENC), chief engineer and other officials took half-day leave and skipped the meeting.

For the last three weeks, meetings are either being postponed or getting adjourned due to supposed differences between the committee members and GHMC authorities.

Important issues like providing road accident policy (Group Nagarik Suraksha Accidental Insurance Policy) to outsourced health and sanitation workers through Oriental Insurance, PIL filed in the state Human Rights Commission on development of footpaths and pedestrian crossings, utilisation of GHMC sports complexes at Ameerpet, Vijaynagar Colony, Victory playground, Red Hills, Amberpet, Shaikpet and Golconda, establishment of night shelters for the homeless and merger of HMWS&SB with GHMC have been put on the back-burner.

Previous meetings have been fiery affairs as committee members belonging to the Congress and MIM have targeted officials and reportedly abused them in filthy language for not implementing decisions passed by the committee.

To settle the scores with the members, additional commissioners and senior officials decided to take half-day leave and left the head office in the afternoon itself. Standing Committee chairperson and mayor Banda Karthika Reddy along with other members who had gathered in the meeting hall, found to their surprise, all senior officials missing.

When contacted by Expresso, the mayor sought to deflect the issue by suggesting that since the Ganesh immersion programme is slated for Wednesday, all officials were busy in making arrangements for the smooth conduct of the event. “As officials are busy in making arrangements, we decided to postpone the meeting,” the mayor said.

Later, committee members met the GHMC commissioner Sameer Sharma reportedly to sort out the differences.