Delays plague works in Asad's home turf

HYDERABAD: Asaduddin Owaisi may be seen by some as a proactive representative, but works sanctioned under his quota of the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) have seen inordinate delays and poor execution, forcing people in several areas to grapple with lack of water supply and damaged roads.
Only 18 of the 130 works sanctioned from the Hyderabad MP's funds have been completed, but on paper the sanctioned works show an expenditure of Rs.13.88 crore, that is, a 99.14% utilization of the Rs.14 crore authorized by the Centre.The chief planning officer in the collector's office, who handles the uploading of data on to the site, confirmed that the data pertains to the latest figures.
However, a closer look at the ground realities provides a different picture. People in the assembly segments of Malakpet, Karwan, Goshamahal, Charminar, Chandrayangutta, Yakutpura and Bahadurpura, where works are reportedly ongoing, point out the extremely poor implementation of projects pertaining to water, drains and roads.
"We have been facing water problems for many years. Water is supplied only once a week, forcing us to buy cans. We cannot even rely on borewells as the water table is not high for most part of the year and the water is muddy," said Waseem Ali, a resident of Ahmed Nagar. A power borewell in the area was sanctioned towards the end of last year at the cost of Rs.4 lakh, but it is yet to be completed, data reveals.
Some areas like Noori Nagar and Ghouse Nagar, which lie in the GHMC periphery, have witnessed development very recently. Though residents here are thankful of their local legislators for makeshift arrangements, they said the promises made to provide permanent relief are yet to be fulfilled. "The reservoir that was supposed to supply water to our area is yet to be completed. A borewell installed a few years ago provides relief to some residents, but others have to make do with inadequate water supply on most days," said Mohammed Tajuddin, a resident of Noori Nagar.
Even in the heart of the parliamentary constituency, works have been delayed. "These pipelines will now only be installed after the elections. The work here has been pending for a long time," said a businessman near Mir Alam Mandi, pointing to sewage pipelines which have been piled up on the main road.
Meanwhile, a close look at the MPLADS data obtained from executing agencies shows that many works, which were shown as ongoing on the website, are yet to be grounded. Take the Quli Qutub Shah Urban Development Authority for instance. Of the 21 works that the QQSUDA is handling, eight works are yet to be started and only 13 are underway. But the district administration has shown 20 works as "ongoing".
Locals say that even though their representative Owaisi is more accessible than most other leaders, the delay in works calls for better supervision of the executing agencies by their representative.