Good governance in Karnataka and Telangana will boost the election prospect of the Congress party in the coming Lok Sabha election. Any deterioration in the quality of life in those two states may plummet Congress’ poll prospects of winning more MP seats in those states. The newly elected Congress in Telangana has five most important tasks to perform and prove that they are different from the former BRS government.
The Congress should save the lakes which were made by the Hindu and Muslim rulers in the past centuries in order to meet the irrigation and drinking water needs of the people. Hundreds of lakes in Hyderabad have been converted into housing complexes, malls or have become garbage dumps. True leaders with manly courage and conviction about the importance of lakes in human survival can protect the lakes.
Aggressive construction on the lake beds in many places is still going on. The famous lake of Gundlapochampally in Hyderabad once supported the livelihood of thousands of villagers in a radius of two kilometers. It provided water for drinking and for irrigation in this area. Hundreds of fishermen earn their living from this lake.
The lake maintained the ground water level and kept the climate cool in the summer season. Fifty years back the lake was touching the boundary wall of an ancient Vishnu temple in the village.
Today the lake has become a garbage dump; people have constructed houses on the lake bed and the lake area has shrunk by 70%. Here the Congress should show courage to save the lake and restore its original size and natural splendor. If the party succeeds to save the lake it will give popularity to Congress which will never wane. The Congress government should take concrete measures to save the lakes in the state to prove that they are a party with a difference.
The newly elected Congress government can get a clear satellite picture of the lakes and initiate the lake preservation work with people’s participation. Hyderabad has become a business hub and generates huge revenue for the state.
The disappearance of the lakes will make the city unlivable; it will adversely affect the private investment in the city; the temperature will increase and there will be acute shortage of water. People will flee from Hyderabad to other states due to extreme heat and water scarcity.
The state government instead of constructing new infrastructure projects like new metro line, sky walk and flyovers should necessarily repair the existing roads; the bad condition of roads in many places adversely affects the tourism sector, causing accidents, erodes people’s hard earned money, increases commutation time and damages vehicles.
The state government should show zero tolerance to contractors who make bad roads which peel out after two hours of heavy rain. The Congress government should be in a mission mode to provide good roads to people. In the last ten years roads have been made in the periphery of the main Hyderabad city and other urban centers in the state.
When people invested their money to buy housing property alongside the roads, the roads were abandoned; no proper repair was done and people suffered endlessly. Road indiscipline in Hyderabad is rampant. Use of high beam, high speed, violation of lane driving rules and signal jumping are increasing day by day.
One will come across scores of overloaded trucks running on the first and second lanes in the ORR which makes driving very risky. ORR has become a death trap due to high speed driving, lane violation and drunk driving etc. Good and safe roads will make Congress and party with a difference.
Lakhs of people pay hundreds of crores of rupees property tax, road tax and other taxes to the government. Taxes collected from the sale of property constitute more than 35% of the state government’s revenue. What they get in return is high cost of water, pollution, bad roads, loss of playgrounds, high cost of education and health facilities etc.
The majority of the housing societies in Hyderabad and in other urban centers have become hot beds of corruption. Corrupt elements enter into the Managing Committees of the society; they divert, misappropriate and loot the residents’ funds and make those societies unlivable.
Today the lake in Hyderabad has become a garbage dump. People have constructed houses in the lake area, shrinking it by 70%
The new Congress government in the state should introduce strict regulation for the housing societies; the majority of the societies have not been registered and they do not submit audited account statements to the Registered Co-operative societies nor do they show the account statements to the residents.
There should be open space, playgrounds, library, park, forest and vegetation in every two kilometer radius in Hyderabad. High rise buildings should not be allowed keeping in view of the water scarcity and high cost of water which is being brought to the city from the far off Godavari river. Water harvesting structures in the housing complexes should be made compulsory across the state.
The majority of the private schools in the state suffix International or global before their names when their quality is abysmally low. Rote learning is rampant in the state. The Government should open more government schools and make quality education affordable. Quality school education can only build a strong and prosperous state; the youth in the state will get jobs and start their own enterprise if they have quality education.
The state should open more public libraries so that students can read free of cost. Dedicated inspection of education institutions is a must. Many educational institutions have taken huge land in the name of education but they use it for commercial purposes. The government should take back those lands and use it for building more government schools, playgrounds and libraries etc.
The state should protect and preserve the Telugu literature, art and culture of the state. Many ancient temples in the state are prone to idol theft and many temples have lost their precious idols in the last two decades. The state should ask CBI to investigate the idol thefts in the state as the cost of those precious idols is inestimably high -- more than thousands of crores of rupees.
Similarly, the handicraft and handloom traditions of the state have declined due to corruption, greedy traders and middlemen. The state should revamp the handicraft and handloom sector and induct honest, dedicated and sincere officials in those sectors.
The five tasks as mentioned above will catapult Congress to fame which will boost its prospect in the coming Lok Sabha election.
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