The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : No end to woes of SCB residents

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 29, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

No end to woes of SCB residents

V.Geetanath

Proper administrative guidelines lacking; clamour mounts for MCH takeover

HYDERABAD: With an overcast sky and the first showers, residents of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) have been heaving a sigh of relief. If the severest water crises this summer caused enough distress, good rain might bring some relief. Yet it's not the end of their woes.

Roads are badly in need of repair. Not only have potholes become rampant on all the main thoroughfares, road diggings by Government departments and telecom firms and their hastily done restoration job have only compounded the problems.

The SCB `Varied Board' under the chairmanship of the Andhra Sub Area Commander met last month and sanctioned works costing Rs. 3.62 crores for repairing roads, constructing open drains, parks development, footpaths and the likes. But, there is no sign of any work being launched despite monsoon looming large.

While constructions have been mushrooming, civic amenities in the area have not kept pace with the changes and have only deteriorated. The SCB has no proper sewerage facility, no proper department to handle building plans, no road development plan and in fact and no master plan for its overall development.

Inadequate water supply

"The SCB is totally indifferent to people's needs. Roads are in a dilapidated state, too many function halls are causing traffic jams, encroachments, no green areas, water supply is inadequate, etc. It is high time the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad takes over," says H.C. Shrivastava, a resident.

"We are getting water three times a month for the last two years and we pay Rs. 200 each month for it! We have been staying here for more than 20 years and have not seen a single improvement though we pay our taxes promptly," points out Vishnu, a resident of Mahendra Hills.

SCB's grand plan to hand over water supply to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) failed to materialise as the latter sought some improvements to the existing system before taking over. Permissions for new building plans and administrative sanctions for normal maintenance works were kept pending for six months, from December. Neither the Executive Officer nor any other official have the powers to sanction or take up any work without the board's approval. The `Varied Board' consisting of army officials, Executive Officer and a civilian nominee has been functioning since the dissolution of the elected body on completion of its term long ago.

Though the Union Government seems to be keen to amend the Cantonment Act, there are many who question the prevailing governance system. "The SCB suffers from lack of proper administrative norms in place. Everything is done in an ad hoc basis. There is no duty chart and no transfers, so where is the question of accountability," asks a senior official.

With no proper consumer redress system in place, any complainant is forced to meet the EO himself directly if a work has to be done. With no town-planning cell, engineering cell scans building plans and a scheme to start a planning cell did not take off.

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Andhra Pradesh