Roads bagu cheyadaniki..manchi muhurtam ledanta....chass jeevitam...

[Spartan]

The GHMC announced over a month ago that it would repair the pothole-riddled main roads. Wondering why it has not been done? Well, the corporation is awaiting auspicious days.

Under the Compreh-ensive Road Mainten-ance, the civic body was supposed to repair 709 km of roads  and also mark lanes and build footpaths. The GHMC floated tenders and selected five firms in November to take care of the entire gamut of operations from the laying of roads to maintenance, building footpaths, cleaning and maintaining greenery.

The five shortlisted firms are: BPCPL (LB Nagar zone, `238.42 crore), M. Venkatarao Infra Projects Pvt Ltd (Charminar zone, `219.70 crore), Megha Engineering & Infras-tructure Ltd Kukatpally, `146.71 crore and part of Khairatabad `196.08),  KNR Constructions Ltd (Secunderabad, `240.61 crore) and  NCC Limited (part of Khairatabad, `165.68 crore).

GHMC commissioner D.S. Lokesh Kumar ann-ounced on December 4 that CRM will begin on December 10. When nothing happened for a month, Deccan Chronicle contacted officials to find out why. They said the CRM had not taken off due to the inauspicious days till the end of the festive season. An official said the work will start in the third week of January. He said only potholes would be filled in the first month.

The agencies should complete 50 per cent of CRM in the first year, 30 per cent in the second year, 20 per cent in third year and take care of maintenance in the last two years.