The Hindu 28.01.2014
GHMC to build walls around 385 open spaces
Special Corresponden
Civic body to spend Rs. 49 cr. to protect lands
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has identified 385
open spaces which will be enclosed with compound walls at a cost of
around Rs.49 crore to save them from possible encroachments.
Speaking
to presspersons on Monday, GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar said three
senior officials were entrusted with the task of identifying the open
plots belonging to the civic body and the team had come up with the list
with related sketches and locations.
“We will be protecting them
by constructing compound walls which are estimated to run for 70,000
metres on the whole,” he said. By June, all these spaces would be
developed into parks and plantation taken up during the coming monsoon
to ensure that they do not fall prey to encroachers. The new lung spaces
would join the list of another 1,000 new parks proposed to be taken up
in the coming months.
On property tax collection, the Commissioner
said this year, so far Rs.538 crore had been collected as against
Rs.467 crore during the same period last year. “Our first target is
Rs.1, 000 crore and second target is Rs.1, 250 crore and we hope the
collection to pick up after all these holidays in January,” he said.
On
realising arrears and long pending dues, he said the staff was directed
to act upon but without causing harassment of any kind. Road repair
works will commence soon as the civic body has approved Rs. 50 lakh for
each ward. A meeting was scheduled towards the month-end with the Roads
& Buildings (R&B) Department on handing over its road stretches
to the GHMC. Mr. Somesh Kumar also conceded the need for preparing staff
and officers better in handling grievances and said a training module
on the issue would be worked out soon.
