` 300 cr for GHMC to cover open drains

Municipal administration and urban development minister K.T. Rama Rao has announced that the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will soon cap open nalas in the city to prevent untoward incidents. “Administrative sanction of `300 crore will be accorded shortly to execute the works,” he said.

Rama Rao’s assurance comes in the wake of 12year-old Sumedha getting washed away in an open drain that had flooded due to heavy rains last Thursday under Neredmet police station limits. Her body was traced the next day two km away in Banda Cheruvu.

The capping will be through construction of box drains over nalas, which are less than twometres wide. Instructions have been issued to officials to study the nala network in the GHMC limits and come up with an action plan to cover the drains.

The MA&UD minister said government will soon provide all permissions as well as the support required to take up the works.

He observed that most of the nalas which are less than two metres wide are located in densely populated areas. They needed to be covered and all precautions taken to avoid any untoward incidents. With regard to nalas, which are more than two metres wide and where capping is not feasible, the minister directed officials to take up fencing works as per National Green Tribunal and Supreme Court guidelines. He wanted GHMC officials to also focus on new areas, where new nalas are getting added with expansion of city limits.