GHMC takes advantage of lockdown to repair Hyderabad roads

Hyderabad: Taking advantage of the lockdown traffic conditions, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation(GHMC) has completed work on about 250 km of the roads in the city at a cost of nearly Rs. 450 crore.

The GHMC completed works on bitumen (BT) roads and a few vacuum dewatered cement concrete (VDCC) roads during the lockdown. The engineering wing of the municipal body took up the work under a comprehensive road maintenance programme (CRMP).

During normal conditions, work on BT roads is conducted between 11 p.m and 5 a.m covering 1.5 km of a four-lane road. But due to the lockdown, working hours increased to 14 hours. The GHMC deployed multiple sets of machinery to finish the work before the scheduled time.

CRMP agencies have spent over Rs. 320 crore till date on road works and is likely to complete more works worth about Rs. 400 crore by the end of July. Apart from this, other GHMC contractors also took advantage of the lockdown and completed works worth Rs. 50 crore in various circles.

“The GHMC engineering maintenance wing took advantage of the lockdown to build hassle-free roads for the citizens worth a total value of Rs. 450 crore. As per the CRMP, strengthening and re-carpeting of 50 per cent of the roads, of the total 709 km, have to be completed by CRMP agencies in the first year,” said D.S. Lokesh Kumar, the commissioner of GHMC.

In April, the minister for municipal administration and urban development, K.T Rama Rao, had said that work on main roads, which was to be completed by the CRMP agencies in the first half of the year, will be taken up now to ensure that the public will not face any inconvenience during the lockdown.