1,740 crore fund boost to fix rain-battered roads in city

Hyderabad : The Comprehensive Road Maintenance Programme (CRMP) and the engineering wing of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) have taken up road maintenance works at a cost of Rs 1,740 crore in the wake of several stretches developing huge potholes in the last two months of heavy rains.

Officials have identified around 3 lakh potholes across the city this year and the cash-starved civic body has been struggling to repair them all. According to officials, repair works pertaining to cement concrete and black-topped roads costing Rs 409 crore have already been completed.

Damaged roads have largely been reported in areas such as LB Nagar, Kukatpally, Miyapur, Secunderabad, Nagole, Serilingampally and Old City. The roads within GHMC limits stretch by 9,013 km, out of which 2,848 km are BT roads and 6,167 km are CC roads. Officials said maintenance works were being carried out across 3,760 km stretch which accounts for 41% of GHMC road network. Officials said maintenance cost of CC and BT road works stands at Rs 945 crore. While 43% of works have been grounded, remaining are at various stages. “Our focus is on fixing potholes on main roads. After September, we can expect most of the works to be completed,” a GHMC engineer told TOI.

The CRMP maintains a total length of 811. 96 km of roads. At the Independence Day programme,city mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi announced widening works costing Rs 1,893 crore have already been given sanction.
“There are many areas where I noticed that road works were under way during peak monsoon season such as Dilsukhnagar and Old City. It doesn’t make sense as it will be a criminal waste of resources because these patchworks won’t last,” civic activist Harish Daga told TOI.