The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : New office building for water board

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Sunday, Feb 10, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

New office building for water board

Special Correspondent

The cash-starved HMWSSB is taking a loan to construct Rs. 20-crore complex

Hyderabad: Though it has no money to pay salaries, the cash-strapped Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) is going in for a new office building.

The Board is taking a bank loan to construct a Rs. 20-crore office complex at Khairatabad where it functioned till recently.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy will lay the stone for the office building on Monday. The complex, which will be ready within two years, will have two blocks. The north-east block with a floor area of 13,242 sq. metres will consist of ground plus four floors. It will have a cellar and sub-cellar with capacity to accommodate 150 cars. The south-west block with 2600 sq. metre floor area will have three floors.

The Board plans to let out the excess space in the complex for commercial purpose so as to repay the loan amount. Though the Board is in a tight position, it is not in such a bad position that it cannot pay salaries to its staff. Salaries of only 40 of the 4,000 employees is held up. “This is done to send out a strong message to the staff that it should take revenue collection seriously. We will be paying the salaries of the top officials this month itself,” said Board’s Managing Director K. Jawahar Reddy.

Revenues increases

He said the monthly revenue had increased from Rs. 16 crore to Rs. 25 crore during the last two years. The Board would be in a comfortable position if the revenue touched Rs. 30 crore, he said said.

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