Hyderabad. Telangana Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) said on Saturday that the state government will cut off electricity and water supply in Secunderabad Cantonment if the army officers do not stop causing inconvenience to the people. He told the assembly that if the military officers failed to rectify their modus operandi, the government would be forced to take stern action and if needed, electricity and water supply would be cut off.
Rama Rao objected to some other actions of the army officials, including the closure of roads, saying that both the sides needed mutual cooperation during their stay in the same city.
KTR was replying to a question on Strategic Drainage Development Program (SNDP) during Question Hour.
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s son KTR said that the army officers should understand that Telangana is not a separate country. “Our officials will hold a meeting with them. If they don’t understand, we will have to take stern action. If need be, we will stop water supply to them,” he said.
He said that the defense officials closed several roads in the cantonment area, causing huge inconvenience to the people and they did not reopen the roads despite the state government raising the issue with the Center several times. The minister alleged that defense officials were also creating hurdles in the SNDP works.
The Minister asked the Special Chief Secretary to immediately convene a meeting with the local military officers and the Cantonment Board. He made it clear that the state government is ready to go to any extent to protect the interest of the people.
He told the House that the army officers also constructed a check dam on the Balkapur drain. As a result, Nadeem Colony was flooded due to backwaters from Shah Hatam pond. He said that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is also not allowing municipal authorities to release water from the pond near the Golconda Fort.
KTR criticized the Center saying that it neither provides funds for works like SRDP nor allows the state government to do its work. He said the Center has not provided even a single rupee for the SRDP, which is estimated to cost Rs 985 crore in the first phase.
The minister said that when he approached the Center for funds for the SRDP, he advised the state to join the AMRUT scheme. “The scheme is for cities with a population of more than one lakh. Hyderabad has a population of more than one crore. But spending Rs 200-300 crore will serve no purpose,” he said.
KTR said that Union Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy is a member of the Lok Sabha from the Secunderabad constituency but has not been able to bring financial support from the Center for the SNDP.
—AnyTV News
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