The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Glitches galore at MCH consultative meeting

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 20, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Glitches galore at MCH consultative meeting

Staff Reporter

Venue plunges into darkness due to power failure

HYDERABAD: The unique consultative meeting called by the MCH for a candid discussion with elected representatives of the city, including MLAs, MPs and corporators, on its four important projects almost turned into a fiasco.

Few minutes into the workshop, the venue at Hari Hara Kala Bhavan, badly in need of repair, plunged into darkness due to a major power failure. Though harried officials made some frantic calls, power was restored only after a good one hour at 10 a.m.

Guests, including Ministers, Mayor, senior officials, and others had to cool their heels in the meantime. Apparently, the convention hall owned by the corporation had no standby generator.

Majlis leader furious

To save time, the inaugural session was cut short after speeches by Ministers K. Ranga Rao and Mohd. Shabbir Ali, Mayor T. Krishna Reddy and MCH Commissioner Sanjay Jaju. But this made Majlis floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi furious.

"The Ministers spoke, the Mayor spoke and both Congress and Telugu Desam Party were given their chance. My party that has five MLAs and a majority in the council was not given an opportunity to present its views. This is a major protocol lapse," he complained.

Amid slogan-shouting by his partymen, he walked out of the meeting along with his MLAs and corporators despite appeals by Mr. Jaju and other officials.

The Mayor too tried to pacify him and failed. The workshop continued but the unpleasant episode lingered.

Incidentally, Principal Secretary of Municipal Administration and Urban Development S.P. Singh sat through the four-hour session watching the proceedings quietly.

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