The Deccan Chronicle 25.11.2010
No takers for GHMC bid to develop graveyardsNov. 24: An offer to corporate houses and non-governmental organisations to develop graveyards and cremation grounds in the city has gone abegging. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation had put up nearly 1,000 cremation and burial grounds for the project, but only five agencies have come forward to develop five graveyards.
Officials admitted that the offer was not attractive as “developers” would not be allowed to even install a board with the name of the agency or organisation in the cremation ground. The offer clearly stated that the corporate houses would have to take up the project as a social responsibility and the returns would be “punyam”.
The officials have now decided to make the offer more attractive by allowing the developer to install a board with its name and also collect minimum user charges, the rate of which would need government approval. The officials will negotiate with local management committees of the cremation and burial grounds over allowing “name boards” and also collecting minimum user charges.
The five agencies are Mohammedan Parishath (Malkajgiri graveyard), Vijay Nirman Company Private Limited (ESI/Erragadda Smashana Vatika), Swarg Vatika (Alwal/Trimulgherry Smashana Vatika), Sri Sai Datta Agencies (Bapu Ghat, Langar Houz) and Dharmacharana Samithi (Bholakpur graveyard).
Enquiries by this correspondent revealed that GHMC officials had made no serious efforts to promote the offer and confined their activity to giving advertisements in newspapers, inviting NGOs and corporate houses to fund the development project.
Normally, officials write to each corporate house informing them in detail about the aims and objectives of the project. Representatives from corporate houses are invited and given a video presentation about such projects. However, it was not done so in this case.
