If the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi is voted back to power in the coming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections, those consuming less than 20,000 litres of drinking water per month won’t have to pay water bills, said party president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, KCR, on Monday.
KCR made this promise while releasing his party’s manifesto at Pragathi Bhavan, his camp office in Hyderabad on Monday. The elections are set to be held on December 1.
“The scheme will come into effect from December. This will not only be a great relief to the poor and middleclass citizens, but also prevent wastage of drinking water,” said KCR.
After assessing the situation within the GHMC limits, the government would extend this facility to other municipalities and municipal corporations in the state as well, he said.
The TRS president also announced free power supply to salons, laundries and dhobi ghats not only in Hyderabad, but also across the state, with effect from December. “Free power supply to salons has been a long-pending demand of barbers’ community. We shall also restore all the dhobi ghats,” he said.
Stating that the lockdown imposed across the country owing the outbreak of Covid-19 in March and the subsequent slowdown of economy had impacted several sections, KCR also announced waiver of Motor Vehicle Tax amounting to Rs267 crore for the two quarters of the current year payable by 337,611 vehicle owners, all over the state.
{{/usCountry}}Stating that the lockdown imposed across the country owing the outbreak of Covid-19 in March and the subsequent slowdown of economy had impacted several sections, KCR also announced waiver of Motor Vehicle Tax amounting to Rs267 crore for the two quarters of the current year payable by 337,611 vehicle owners, all over the state.
{{/usCountry}}Similarly, KCR announced waiver of minimum demand charges of electricity supply for high-tension and low-tension categories of industries, cinema theatres and commercial firms for a period of six months, as they suffered heavily during the lockdown period across the state.
For the film industry, the chief minister said the government would reimburse the state GST for small budget films (up to Rs10 crore), allow theatres to increase the number of shows per day and make ticket pricing flexible following the losses incurred by the industry.
KCR also announced implementation of comprehensive sewerage master plan for Hyderabad at a cost of Rs13,000 crore to prevent inundation of colonies during heavy rains and restoration of storm water drains at a cost of Rs12,000 crore.
The state government would also take up construction of a reservoir at Kesavapuram on the outskirts of city that would ensure drinking water supply to the city for another 50 years. It has already set up Musi Riverfront Development Corporation that would help cleanse the Musi river by linking it to Godavari river, so that it will be completely rid of pollution, he said.
Among the other poll promises in the election manifesto are expansion of Metro rail network up to the Shamshabad international airport, expansion of multimodal transport system and implementation of strategic road development project for smooth flow of traffic.