Plan to revamp civic bodies

KTR releases MA&UD annual report listing achievements, plans of the dept

The annual report of the municipal administration (MA) and urban development (UD) department for 2019-20, listing the various achievements, programmes and plans implemented by the department, was released by MA&UD minister, K.T. Rama Rao, on Wednesday.

Releasing the report, Rama Rao said the Telangana government was working hard to transform cities and municipalities into modern entities that are people-friendly and geared to provide efficient services to all sections of society. The new municipal act is being implemented for faster development, he said.

The report highlighted various aspects of the act including self-assessment and online filing of property tax, self-declarations based 100 per cent online, time-bound building permission system, thereby doing away with any interaction with any staff, and instant approvals for almost 85 per cent of the constructions taken up in plots that are less than 240 square yards.

The report said recognizing the increasing urban nature and growth in the state, the number of urban local bodies were increased from 78 to 139, including 13 municipal corporations giving the necessary impetus to these areas for growing as urban growth engines.

During the year, Hyderabad metro, the world’s largest public-private-partnership metro project with a length of 69 kms was completed and with this, Hyderabad now has the country's second largest metro rail network, next only to Delhi, the report said.

On the issue of drinking water supply augmentation to Hyderabad urban agglomeration, it said HMWS&SB's 344 million gallons a day capacity Keshavpuram reservoir, which guarantees water till the year 2040 by bringing water from Kaleshwaram list irrigation scheme through Kondapochammasagar has been taken up while the water board also completed a `725 core Phase-I of the project to supply drinking water to 24 ULBs and 18 gram panchayats, providing water supply to 2 lakh households. On the health care front, 45 new bastidawakhanas were added to the existing

123, with a plan to have as many as 350 such clinics in the city of Hyderabad.