Come November, the world would look towards Hyderabad. Our city is going to host Global Entrepreneurship Summit from Nov 28-30, for which Ivanka Trump, Advisor to the US President, will lead the U.S. delegation. Moreover, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate Phase-1 of Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) on Nov 28th.
With incessant rains and battered roads, is Hyderabad prepared for such mega events of international scale? While Telangana state government has allotted Rs 500 crore for improvement of roads, traffic junctions, beautification, and sanitation, the big question is when and to what extent are the funds going to be released? More importantly, how prudently will these funds be deployed to build the historic city’s infrastructure?
If we go by the previous record of state government’s release of funds as promised, it is certainly a sorry state-of-affairs. For the recent centenary celebrations of cash-strapped Osmania University – only state university in Telangana to be recently accorded A+ by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) – Telangana government has initially announced a one-time grant of Rs. 200 Crores. However, sources inform that the funds weren’t released until the last minute. The University had to make do with the resourcefulness of the university’s administration, as Only 10% of the grants were released three days before the centenary celebrations.
Will the upcoming mega-events in Hyderabad stretch the already tight budget of GHMC? Would it be a test of GHMC officials’ resourcefulness? Or would it just be an exercise of sweeping under the carpet for GHMC? Only time can tell.
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