Exactly a month ago, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao made a maiden visit to Karimnagar town on August 5 and announced several sops, including development of the town on a par with London and New York.
The people of town, who were starved of development and non-availability of basic amenities such roads and parks etc., rejoiced over the announcement made by the Chief Minister. The residents expected that the Chief Minister’s announcement would transform the town on all fronts.
On the contrary, it is the other way round. Karimnagar legislator Gangula Kamalakar had ensured the sanction of Rs. 46 crore for taking up road works, including footpaths, and also beautifying them with LED lights. But the executing agency of underground drainage (UGD) works, in a bid to repair the roads, damaged them even further, in an attempt to lay drainage pipes.
The roads have turned from bad to worse due to the UGD works and recent rains have only compounded the problem, causing several hardships to motorists and pedestrians.
Sources said that the Karimnagar City Renovation (KCR) project, the dream project of Mr. Gangula Kamalakar, is likely to be shelved due to non-completion of UGD works.
When contacted, Mayor S. Ravinder Singh said that 80 per cent of UGD works had been completed and presently, the agency was laying pipelines on the roads. He said they were hopeful that the UGD works would be completed within nine months and added that they would take up road works only after completion of UGD works.
The Chief Minister had also announced that he would develop the Brindavan gardens on the shores of Lower Manair Dam (LMD) reservoir, introduce boating facilities and construct restaurants and villas in 300 acres of land. Ironically, the SRSP has only 30 acres of land and the authorities cannot acquire the Satavahana University PG college land as it was decided to allocate the same to establish the Government Medical College as announced by the government.
