Following the recent Lok Ayukta orders, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to remove all overhead cables in the city. In a meeting with representatives of Telecom and Cable Operators, GHMC Commissioner M T Krishna Babu said that in view of traffic congestions and inconvenience to people at busy roads, underground cables would be laid by replacing the overhead cables.

In the first phase, it was proposed to lay underground cables on the stretch of 170 km main road and 73 km on Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) route. The GHMC Commissioner MT Krishna Babu mooted three proposals to lay underground cables. The first one is the operators can form a stake holders’ consortium and take up the works, while the second proposal is GHMC will take up the works and the operators pay money. The third one is the operators will award the works to an outsourcing agency.

The operators and the Corporation will finalise one proposal among the three in the next meeting to be held on February 13. It is estimated that it will cost around Rs 5 crore to lay underground cables on 1 km stretch. Stating that all stake holders had already agreed to remove the cables, the official said during laying underground cables, foothpath and storm water drainage’s would also be laid to meet future needs.

Referring to the collection of property tax in this financial year, Commissioner Krishna Babu said so far it had collected Rs 410 crore and it would achieve the target of Rs 600 crore by the end of March. He also said that the Corporation had prepared project proposals at the cost of Rs 800 crore for taking biodiversity projects and had sent a letter to the Centre seeking assistance.