While urging Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu to replace Hyderabad with Karimnagar under the Smart Cities project, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has requested the Centre to provide adequate funds for development of Hyderabad as a metro city. In a letter sent to Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday, KCR pointed out that Hyderabad is a fast-growing metro city like Mumbai and it needs more funds for development.
Striking a similar note, Karimnagar MP B Vinod Kumar shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding creation of a separate category for development of Smart Metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. he urged the PM to sanction Rs 1,000 crore per year for each metro to cater to their special needs. Chief minister Rao said that including Hyderabad in the Smart Cities project and providing a meagre Rs 100 crore would not be sufficient for the development of the global city.
“Like Mumbai, Hyderabad is also a fast-growing metro city. Hyderabad is in the category of A-1 cities. The Centre should sanction more funds recognising the speciality of the Hyderabad, which is spread over 625 sq km,” Rao urged Venkaiah Naidu. The Ahluwalia committee, in its report in 2011, stated that Hyderabad required an investment of Rs 30,370 crore in key sectors and Rs 1,264 crore every year for maintenance.
Hyderabad requires Rs 15,000 crore investments for providing drinking and drainage facilities, Rao said in the letter. “Sanctioning just Rs 100 crore will not be sufficient for the development of the city,” the CM pointed out.
“There is no drainage facility for 50 per cent of the families in Hyderabad. The age-old drainage and water systems have become defunct and insufficient to the present needs. It will become very difficult for the State government to allocate funds for the growing needs of the city,” Rao informed Venkaiah Naidu.
Instead of Hyderabad, Karimnagar city should be included in the Smart Cities programme, Rao demanded.
Meanwhile, Telangana Urban Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited managing director M Dana Kishore in his letter to the Ministry of Urban Development sent the proposal for conclusion of Karimnagar under Smart Cities. “Extend the date of submission of Smart City proposal by Karimnagar municipal corporation up to January 15, 2016,” he requested the Centre. Kishore sent the preliminary estimates of Karimnagar development to the Centre.
Source: The New Indian Express