Hyderabad needs a directly elected Executive Mayor

My piece in the Times of India today (28 June) on the need to have a directly elected mayor with executive powers for Hyderabad. A group of us had a brainstorming session on this in the past and held a press meet also before the Corporation elections. As there was a constraint on the word limit, I could not elaborate on some issues. But the spirit is there. - CR
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Hyderabad has emerged as a city of national and global importance and has been contributing immensely to economic growth, employment generation and providing livelihoods for vast sections of people. It is therefore imperative that cities like this are governed well so as to provide high quality civic services like in other cities in developed countries. What we need is an effective and good city government headed by a directly elected executive mayor with a strong political commitment, orientation towards reform in administrative and financial aspects and who is accountable to citizens.

In the present set up, there is no leader the citizens can look up to. The Water Board is headed by the chief minister who has no time for it. Its day-to-day affairs are looked after by a civil servant. Nobody knows who the board members are and when it meets (if it meets at all). Whether it is highly iniquitous supply, poor quality or irregular timings, the citizens have to run from pillar to post. Take illegal constructions. The building regularization scheme (BRS), which when implemented some years ago was supposed to be a one-time measure, was later 'revised' into a building penalization scheme (BPS), thus ensuring that the illegal activity continues.
Water bodies continue to shrink and vanish despite new laws. Less said the better about the high profile metro rail project. Lands are being allocated to L&T beyond the scope of and much more than what is listed in the concession agreement, alignments are altered, heritage buildings affected etc, but there is nobody to answer. Meanwhile, its promoters are on a brand-building bandwagon spreading half-truths (and some untruths) to the people. For instance, the project is known to have got an international award for best design while the fact is that the designs are not yet finalized for several crucial junctions/routes. All that the citizens have is an accounts officer heading the project who is not accountable to the public at all. The quality of public transportation continues to decline with no 'father' for the APSRTC to claim its rightful place in the city.

All these factors are having a debilitating effect on the quality of civic life. The citizens have to build up pressure on the government and the political parties with a long term goal of far reaching changes in the way the city is governed. The civil society has an important role to play in this task. The long term goals should be: 1. Direct elections to the mayor of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation; 2. Making the mayor an executive mayor with adequate powers; 3. Giving effective administrative and financial powers to the city government; 4. Making all the service providing agencies in the city accountable to the city government (eg. public transport, water supply & sewage, fire safety, environment etc., to mention only a few).

Several experts in the field of urban governance in Hyderabad have deliberated on these issues in the past. The city cannot be governed in the same old ways if the situation has to be improved drastically.

Metro MD misleads the people of Telangana with job reservation

Misleading the people of Telangana by lying. Hyderabad metro MD promises that 40k jobs (out of 50k that would be generated) would be reserved for Telanganites. Can he do that? One official says: "In reality, the number of employees required ... is around 20,000. The inflated number being assured by the metro rail authorities can later lead to unrest among the local people apart from misleading the public." It is a PPP project and the metro MD will have no say in recruitment. 

- CR
Metro rail MD in bind over jobs for T youth

May 9, 2013

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Metro-rail-MD-in-bind-over-jobs-for-T-youth/articleshow/19959985.cms

HYDERABAD: A TRS-TJAC delegation on Wednesday called on Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd (HMRL) authorities and demanded that 80% of the jobs that the project will generate should be reserved for people from Telangana. According to sources, when a delegation met HMRL managing director NVS Reddy, he assured that the demand would be fulfilled. Reddy told them that the project would generate about 50,000 direct and indirect jobs. and that they would not have any hesitation in reserving 80% of it for the people of Telangana

The delegation that met NVS Reddy included TRS Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao, politburo member Sravan Kumar Dasoju and MLCsSwamy Goud and Mahmood Ali besides TJAC leaders Srinivas Goud and Addanki Dayakar. The team reminded the metro rail officials of the AP Public Employment (Organization of Local Cadre and Regulation Direct Recruitment Order- 1975) Act, also known as Presidential Order 1975, which reserves 80% of government jobs to locals. "We explained the provision of the Act and also warned of an agitation in case our demand is not met. Responding positively to our demand, NVS Reddy said that of the total estimated 50,000 jobs, 40,000 would be reserved for locals."

However, according to a senior official in the municipal administration department, the TRS delegation approached the wrong party in seeking an assurance on job reservation as the Hyderabad Metro Rail authorities have no say in the matter. "The metro rail project is an infrastructure project being executed under public private partnership (PPP), and Larsen & Toubro is the concessionaire for the project. HMRL has no role in the recruitment because L&T has given the operation and maintenance (O&M) contract to Keolis, a France-based public transport operator, which would hire people in consultation with the concessionaire," said the official.

According to the official, HMRL has got it wrong with regard to the number of jobs that the project is expected to generate. "In reality, the number of employees required , including construction and operation, is around 20,000. The inflated number being assured by the metro rail authorities can later lead to unrest among the local people apart from misleading the public," said the official.

L&T's 'Goodwill Gesture' to Hyderabad Journalists

Project and Publicity. Quid pro Quo? Or What else? A big construction firm, L&T, is 'helping' in the design and supervision of constructing a swanky building as a 'goodwill gesture' for the Hyderabad Press Club in Somajiguda. You may wonder why the L&T has developed so much love for the media. It is building Hyderabad metro rail (HMR) which is mired in many controversies. It may also be noted that L&T and HMR organised a lavish party recently for the journalists in a place on the outskirts of the city (We published it on our blog.) What else could be the motive if not getting favourable publicity? Read the news item below.

Row over L&T gesture, Times of India, Hyderabad, Apr 29, 2013. 

HYDERABAD: Plans to build a swankier press club at Somajiguda had run into controversy with several members of the club objecting to the decision, which they say, has been taken by the management without taking majority of journalists into confidence. The new club's design, comprising three floors, a centralised kitchen, a convention centre, a press conference hall and two restaurants, has been planned by construction firm Larsen and Toubro(L&T). While club authorities said that the total cost would be around Rs 4-5 crore, they clarified that the construction major is helping the club in executing the project as a 'goodwill gesture'. During an emergency general body meeting held on Sunday at the club to discuss the plans, members raised questions on the involvement of L&T in the project. Last week, L&T engineers gave a power point presentation on the design of the new building to a selected few members, which did not go down well with the remaining.

Larsen & Toubro is building the metro rail project in Hyderabad at an estimated cost of Rs 14,132 crore. The project has been dogged with inordinate delay and there has been numerous complaints on allotment of prime land at dirt cheap rates. A case has been filed against the project by traders of Ameerpet, saying that the alignment of the project has been changed unilaterally, violating the detailed project report.

L&T has not been able to make inroads into the Sultan Bazaar area due to resistance from locals. "There is no doubt that the metro project has given L&T negative branding and I am sure they would do anything that could boost their image in Hyderabad," an analyst said.

For more, go to the link:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Row-over-LT-gesture/articleshow/19775384.cms

At the AAG Conference

In the lobby of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles.

Critically analysing the Hyd Metro project in an international conference

I will be presenting my paper "Elevated Metro Rail and Undoing the City - Social Activism against a PPP Project in Hyderabad" in the Annual Conference of the Association of American Geographers in Los Angeles, USA during 9-13 April. It is the largest gathering of geographers in the world. About 7000 scholars from the discipline of Geography and other related fields will participate in the conference.

I will also be a panel speaker in a special session in honour of Prof. Neil Smith, a well-known leftist geographer, who passed away recently at the City University of New York. The session title is: "Geography Towards Revolution for Neil Smith - Part V: Radical Geography Roundtable Discussion". I will also focus on the metro project, the concession agreement, real estate, lack of transparency, the High Court Order etc. in this special session also.

- C.R

Money only for Metro Rail, Not MMTS

The AP budget provides Rs. 500 crore for the ongoing metro rail for the financial year 2013-14. There has never been any shortage of allocations in the budget for this mega project. But the long neglected and awaited phase II of the MMTS (multi-modal transit system) gets nothing. It was reported in one newspaper that an amount of Rs. 17.5 cr was allocated for MMTS while one paper reported that there was no mention of this at all. Non-allocation of money for MMTS once again indicates that public transport and mobility of people in Hyderabad has never been a priority for the state government. In the last several years some paltry amounts have been allocated in the budgets but there is no evidence of spending that money.

(Photo: From a newspaper, no date available)

It may be recalled that MMTS trains are operated by the Indian Railways on the existing railway tracks. The phase I was completed in August 2003 with an investment of about Rs. 200 crore on a length of 40 km carrying about 1.5 lakh passengers everyday. These trains now connect Falaknuma-Kachiguda-Secunderabad-Begumpet-Lingampally and also Nampally-Lingampally. This is one of the cheapest modes of transportation and has become very popular with the commuters. It is a joint venture between Indian Railways and AP state govt with a share of 2/3rds by the latter.

The phase II of this project covering 70 km with a cost of about Rs.600 crore should have been completed by 2005. It would have connected Shamshabad, Gatkesar and Medchal on the outskirts with the city core. Ever since the metro rail project came to the centre stage in 2005 successive state govts have not shown any interest in allocating money to this project. 

Hyderabad city requires all modes of the transport to be improved and integrated over a period of time. But now, for the sake of the metro project, all the alternative/existing modes of transport are either neglected or downgraded. That is the tragedy of the present times. That shows the real nature of the metro rail project.

MMTS train services neglected to favour Metro?

Vijayaraghavan Krishnamurthy's posting in MMTS Travellers' Group in Facebook:

While the Hyderabad Metro work starts in full swing, the city public transport which was to be strengthened by the MMTS - esp Phase II activities, gets a meagre allocation of Rs 30 Crores. How many such budgets we see like this without much or no allocation ? While authorities keep on talking that MMTS is one modes of transport which would be complimenting Metro - Where is that shown in action ? With so many MPs from AP / Hyderabad - not a single person is willing is take this up cause ... This has been a case of abandoned baby. While they talk about Rs 20,000 crores for the Metro, case of Rs 750 crores suddenly becomes problem for MMTS. Does this not show that is being sidelined ? - Is this not a clear case for those who claim that MMTS is being improved and is going to compliment the Metro ? At this moment i get reminded about the "Competition Clause" in the agreement of HMR.