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General Administration

Water board may borrow Rs 200 crore from banks

Tuesday, 19 November 2013 10:17 administrator
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The New Indian Express             19.11.2013

Water board may borrow Rs 200 crore from banks

To tide over the present financial crisis, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) is contemplating to avail a bank loan to the tune of Rs 200 crore from nationalised banks.

The board urgently needs to pay Rs 300 crore to AP Transco to clear power dues. The huge electricity arrears got piled up due to the drawing of about 320 million gallons of water per day (MGD) from   sources like Manjira Phases I and II, Singur Phases III and IV and  Krishna Drinking Water Supply Project (KDWSP) Phases I and II by pumping water at different stages for supplying drinking water to the consumers in Greater Hyderabad and villages in other districts en route. The power consumption by the water board is about 100 MW.

HMWS&SB officials told Express that the board would approach nationalised banks for loans of Rs 200 crore. The HMWS&SB’s monthly expenditure is about Rs 90 crore while the revenue is just Rs 60 crore a month, creating a monthly deficit of Rs 30 crore.

On a monthly basis, the water board incurs Rs 40 crore towards power charges but manages to pay a partial amount between Rs 20-25 crore per month to AP Transco. The remaining amount piles up as dues, they said.

The HMWS&SB revised the water tariff in December 2011 whereas the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) revised the power tariff in April 2012 which was about Rs 13 crore and Rs 20 crore in 2013. During the next financial year (2014-15), it may reach Rs 25 crore. The HMWS&SB would be in a severe financial crisis, they added.

If the state government wants to rescue HMWSS&B from the present financial crisis, they have to either allow the Board to increase the water tariff on all categories or provide funds to clear the power dues, they added.

 

City corporation takes a decision, at last

Tuesday, 19 November 2013 10:08 administrator
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The New Indian Express             19.11.2013

City corporation takes a decision, at last

The city will soon see ‘light at the end of the tunnel’, literally. Bringing the city’s fight with darkness to an end, the City Corporation has floated tenders for Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) for the maintenance and upkeep of the streetlights in its ambit.

The major reason which refrained the civic body from calling the AMC so far was the huge area of the Corporation, which has 100 wards. Hence, when the AMC is called, the Corporation area is being classified into 30 divisions based on the KSEB sections.

The city has, in total, 76,646 streetlights in all these sections, as per statistics. Peroorkada section has the maximum of 6,209 lamps, while Kaniyapuram has the least with 98 streetlamps. 

 “The City Corporation will supply the required materials and the contractors will carry out the maintenance. Works will start after the contract is approved,” said B Ananda Raju, Corporation engineer-in-charge.

According to a 2011 government circular, it is the responsibility of the Corporation to carry out the maintenance of streetlamps, though the work had been done by the KSEB till September this year.

An all-party delegation led by Mayor K Chandrika had, in August this year, submitted a memorandum to Electricity Minister Aryadan Muhammed demanding that the KSEB should take up the work. Following this, considering the Onam season, the KSEB did the maintenance of the streetlamps, but the stalemate continued over a longtime solution.

Subsequently, the Corporation chose the option of depositing money with the KSEB so that at the rate prescribed by the Board, contract labourers engaged by the Board will carry out the maintenance activities, taking a cue from the Kozhikode Corporation, where calling the annual maintenance contracts had not brought about the desired results.

The matter also kicked up a row in the Corporation council meeting, as the absence of streetlights resulted in an increase in the number of accidents as well as that of the stray dog menace here.

KSEB, after holding a discussion, then placed certain conditions before the Corporation, saying that the quality of materials to be brought by the civic body could not be ascertained. Following which, the Corporation has now moved to inviting tenders for the annual maintenance contract.

 

Demolition of Colony Number 5 likely on Nov 20

Tuesday, 19 November 2013 09:11 administrator
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The Indian Express             19.11.2013

Demolition of Colony Number 5 likely on Nov 20

With the deadline given to the residents of Colony Number 5 for shifting to the rehabilitation colony in Dhanas set to end this week, a demolition drive is likely to take place there on November 20. A meeting of all the departments involved with the process would be held on Monday to take a final decision.

Chandigarh Housing Board has constructed 8,448 one-room tenements at Dhanas under the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme with funds from Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission. The keys of the tenements were handed over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in September this year. The beneficiaries were given a month to shift, from the date when allotment letters were issued. Thereafter a 21-day deadline was set for the shift.

With the deadline coming to an end, people are yet to shift to the houses allotted to them. Some take the plea that shifting now would affect education of their children and they should be allowed to stay till the end of this session. Others state that shifting would take them away from their place of work. The number of people residing in the colony have increased from the time the last biometric survey was done. While the tenements have been allotted to those whose names were there in the biometric survey, there would be several others who do not figure in the list.

Meanwhile, political parties are already terming the move unjustified. Senior BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan says that it would not be feasible for the Administration to demolish the hutments whose residents have been allotted tenements at Dhanas and leave out the others. People are facing problems in allotment of houses and these need to be rectified.

BSP convener Haffiz Anwar-ul-Haq holds a similar opinion. He stated that till the school session ends, people should not be shifted from the colony.

Once Colony Number 5, which is one of the biggest colonies in the city, is demolished, a part of the land would be used for construction of roads while some would be fenced for future use and planning for the same would be done.

 
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