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.