In what is being seen as wholesale waste of taxpayer’s money, the GHMC is spending crores on beautification of central medians and traffic islands, which will be removed in a few months to construct pillars for the elevated Metro Rail corridor in the city. In an effort at decking up the city ahead of the global biodiversity conference (COP-11), to be held here from October 1 to 19, the civic body is replacing existing soil, manure, grass and plants that are fairly in good condition on most central medians.
While the civic body explained that the plants would be kept safely during construction and replanted once the Metro corridor is ready, many activists, residents and even some political leaders are not ready to buy the logic. Out of 125 km of accumulated road length identified for beautification, Metro Rail pillars would be constructed on 72 km. The Metro would run on elevated tracks put up on pillars, mostly along the central medians.
While the state government has sanctioned Rs 253.50 crore to 12 different departments, and asked officials to meet the balance requirement of Rs 203.50 crore from the internal budget of each department, enquiries by this newspaper revealed that at least Rs 20 crore is being spent on only replacing soil, plants, trees, kerbs, footpaths and beautification of central medians and islands ahead of COP-11. Another Rs 24 crore has been earmarked for road repairs by GHMC, Rs 15 crore by R&B to repair its roads, Rs 15 crore by HMDA, and Rs 7 crore by corporate firms.