The
Hindu: Hyderabad: Wednesday, 07 October 2015.
Despite
spending Rs. 22 crore since 2006 on the project, there’s nothing much to show,
says Forum For Good Governance.
Say Charminar
and the first image that pops up in one’s head is that of a crowded road
leading to it and congested vicinity around the 400-year-old monument. And to
change all that and improve aesthetics, the Charminar Pedestrian Project (CPP)
was initiated. Cut to 2015, and what is visible is a granite road meant for
walking and visible medians, but that is all.
And
questioning the pace of works that the CPP has been handled since its inception
are the members of Forum For Good Governance, who say that, according to an RTI
query, successive State governments have spent more than Rs. 22 crore since
2006 on the project, but with little to show. Demanding that the State
government take up the CPP project on top priority, members of the Forum For
Good Governance (FFCG) here on Tuesday said in spite of spending so much money,
nothing has come off the project so far.
“In fact, Rs.
37 lakh was given to a firm as consultancy charges alone,” pointed out FFCG
member Rao Chelikani, at a press conference. The data about the CPP’s
expenditure shows that so far Rs. 9.39 crore was spent on road works, Rs. 2.41
crore on ‘construction of kerbing, footpaths and granite paving all around
Charminar’. “Even before the project is completed, the granite works need
repair,” remarked Mr. Chelikani.
Both Mr. Chelikani
and M. Padmanabha Reddy from FFCG stated that while other national monuments in
India have lung space, the Charminar is congested due to heavy traffic and
several encroachments around it.
They also
said that roads from Nayapul to Falaknuma palace, Shalibanda, Engine Bowli and
other surrounding areas also need to be improved.
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