Hyderabad: Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Tuesday said the State government had fast-tracked several works to transform Hyderabad from a metropolitan city into an international metropolis. She lauded Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s noble aim to construct one lakh double-bedroom houses at 111 sites in the GHMC area to facilitate the poor live with dignity. The houses have already been distributed to beneficiaries in some locations, she said.
Addressing the 72nd Republic Day celebrations at Public Gardens here, the Governor said the lockdown period was put to best use to complete the road works and construction of bridges in the city. About 250 km length of BT roads were laid in Hyderabad, while works undertaken under the Strategic Road Development Program (SRDP) are progressing at a fast pace. She stated that around 26 main roads were widened under the SRDP phase-I and multi-level fly-overs and main junctions were developed to ensure smooth flow of signal-free traffic. “As part of this, works on seven skyways, 11 major corridors, 68 major roads, and 54-grade separators are being taken up,” she said.
The Governor felt proud that the Centre declared Charminar Pedestrian Project as a Special Swachh Iconic construction under Bharath Swachh Mission. She said the cable bridge constructed at Durgam Cheruvu has not only eased the traffic congestion but also became a major tourist spot in the city.
Law and Order
Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan asserted that maintenance of law and order was on the top of the agenda for the State government which was acting with an iron hand against anti-social elements, anarchists, and those harassing women. She said the State government had increased funding and strengthened the police department by providing required manpower, vehicles, equipment, infrastructure, and state-of-the-art technology. She reminded me that 65 percent of the CC cameras installed in the country, were in Telangana State.
“The Police Command Control Centre set up with the state-of-the-art technology, which is the first of its kind in the country, will be opened soon in Hyderabad. The entire police department has been revamped for effective maintenance of law-and-order and for better coordination among the police stations,” she added.
Industrial growth and IT
The Governor said the TS-iPASS policy was receiving appreciations from all over the country and accelerated industrial growth in the State. Since the inception of this policy, about 14,338 new industries came to the State and provided 14.59 lakh jobs.
Owing to the IT policy brought in by the State government, several world-renowned IT firms have found Telangana as an ideal destination for their business operations and also data security, and opened their offices in Telangana State. Besides multinational companies like Microsoft, Google, IBM, and Oracle opening their offices in Hyderabad, Amazon Web Services came forward to set up its Data Centre Region with an investment of Rs 20,761 crore in Hyderabad.
“The State government also started IT hubs in Tier-II cities like Warangal, Karimnagar, and Khammam, besides Hyderabad. IT exports at the time of the State formation were Rs 66,276 crore per year and in the last financial year, it went up to Rs 1.28 lakh crore, providing employment to around 5.82 lakh people in the IT sector,” she said.
