The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) are poised to incur a significant revenue loss of Rs 12 crore this year due to the mismanagement of iron scrap collected after the Ganesh nimajjanam in Hussainsagar and other lakes across the city. Despite an opportunity to monetise approximately 4,000 tonnes of iron from these festivities, neither civic body invited tenders for the transparent disposal of the material. Instead, a lack of clarity and coordination between GHMC and HMDA has led to a system where scrap is being handed over through non-transparent contracts, bypassing the potential for maximised revenue.
While HMDA claims that the responsibility of scrap disposal lies with GHMC, the latter shifts the blame back to HMDA. This lack of accountability, coupled with the rule allowing contracts worth less than Rs 5 lakh to be awarded without tenders, has resulted in scrap being sold without transparency. The practice of breaking down large contracts into smaller ones to avoid tender processes is exacerbating the problem. Despite the vast amounts of iron extracted from lakes like Hussainsagar, the civic bodies have been accused of handing over the work to multiple contractors under questionable circumstances, leading to substantial revenue losses for the city.
The nexus between zonal and circle-level officials within GHMC and HMDA has been highlighted as a root cause of this issue, with allegations of fraudulent practices surrounding the disposal of scrap iron. Officials admit that a more transparent system could generate significant income for the civic bodies, especially with Hyderabad’s rapid urbanisation. As the city continues to expand, proper management of resources such as scrap disposal is critical for ensuring that potential revenue streams are not lost to mismanagement and inefficiency.
