The Hindu 24.12.2009
HMDA facing fund crunch
T. Lalith Singh
Officials express concern over the payment of salary bills of the staff
Developers showing little interest in various projects floated by HMDA
HYDERABAD: As senior IAS officer B.P. Acharya prepares to take over the reins of Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), awaiting him are near empty coffers of the body that is supposed to shape the contours of an emerging city and a host of projects that are stuck in various stages.
The financial status of the HMDA has gone into a crisis with some officials even going to the extent of expressing worries on whether the salary bills of the staff could be handled if the situation does not improve at the earliest. Bills have been pending for different projects, some prestigious ones, and concern is obvious as to how to settle the payments of the rest of the work on P.V. Narasimha Rao Elevated Expressway.
Then there is the flyover at Madhapur and huge funds to be raised for the ambitious Outer Ring Road (ORR), which when completed promises to do away with travel travails apart from boosting development all around the city.
The HMDA, which had everything going its way when the real estate boomed and came up with a host of projects, is now caught in a piquant situation not knowing what to do with its plans. Several tenders were floated and developers invited but most of the initiatives failed to evoke any enthusiasm so far.
If the idea of truck terminals dotting the city outskirts remained on paper, so have the concepts of a multi-storied business complex on the old Gandhi Hospital premises in Secunderabad and an aquarium of international standards at Miralam Tank. Both failed to spur interest among developers and make them put their money particularly in the backdrop of the economic slowdown.
Nothing much has moved on the Road Over Bridge (RoB) proposed at Sanjeevaiah Park and the auction of sites attempted at different locations in and around the city too failed to bring the much desired money into the coffers.
Such is the scenario that the authority, which is operating from different locations, is yet to initiate work on its own central office complex at Madhapur.
No takers
The HMDA had decided to increase its land bank and sought identified sites at different emerging locations around the city but the same is yet to materialise. Also, the efforts to raise money from financial institutions and preparedness to mortgage from its available land bank did not help it so far.
