The New Indian Express 18.01.2010

GHMC’s first ordinary meet likely to be stormy

HYDERABAD: The first ordinary meeting of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), to be held in the Old Council Hall of GHMC Complex on Tank Bund Road at 11 am on January 18 will be a stormy affair as the main Opposition party, Telugu Desam, is bent on raising several burning issues.

Apart from the ordinary meeting, a second special meeting will also be held on the same day at 3 pm to co-opt two persons from the minorities, including a woman, as members of the GHMC as specified under the provisions of Section 5 (1-C) of the GHMC Act 1955.

As per the Act, the two co-opted members belonging to the minorities should be elected within 60 days and the other three from the general category within 90 days of the GHMC elections. The agenda for the ordinary meeting inlcudes confirmation of the minutes dated December 4, 2009, followed by a question-answer session.

GHMC Mayor Banda Karthika Reddy will have some anxious moments for she is going to conduct the proceedings of the council for the first time.

Of the 150 corporators, the Congress has 52, TDP 45, MIM 43, BJP 5, and the PRP and MBT one each. The remaining three are independents.

The TDP corporators have decided to raise several issues which are of public interest. Singireddy Srinivas Reddy from Saidabad told Expresso that passing of the 2010-11 budget without discussion, status of BRS applications, large-scale corruption in the town planning wing, sharing of 25 percent of property tax with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB), status of GHMC properties, poor sanitation, failure to collect tax on Central and State Government properties, poor maintenance of cremation grounds and graveyards, poor facilities at sport complexes, failure to develop slums, rampant corruption in transport department, neglect of storm water drains and delay in issuance of birth and death certificates would be raised at the meeting.

The BJP corporators will also raise similar issues and try to put officials on the mat for alleged failure to provide basic amenities and solve civic issues of importance. The MIM is yet to announce its strategy.

The GHMC has reworked on the seating arrangements so as to accommodate 150 corporators and 65 ex officio members who include MPs, MLAs and MLCs.