Telangana CM KCR orders Nizamabad's 'wonderful' makeover

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has ordered the transformation of Nizamabad into a vibrant, “beautiful and wonderful”, city.

Rao presided over a high-level meeting on civic infrastructure development in the state on Sunday, with a special focus on improving amenities and beautifying Nizamabad.

The meeting was attended, among others, by Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao and Member of Legislative Council Kalvakuntla Kavitha.

Kavitha, KCR's daughter, was the MP representing Nizamabad constituency in the previous Lok Sabha. In a major setback to the ruling party in the 2019 polls, she was defeated by BJP's Dharmapuri Arvind.

Kavitha was later expected to be sent to the Rajya Sabha, but the TRS chief chose to keep her in state politics. In October 2020, she entered the Legislative Council, winning from the Nizamabad local authorities’ constituency.

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“Development in Nizamabad should be more vibrant. Make the city beautiful and wonderful. Undertaken works should be completed in two and a half months, and I will come for inspection. There is no shortage of funds for Nizamabad development,” the CM said in the meeting while ordering the finance secretary to release more funds for the city.

During the meeting, Kavitha requested the CM for a new bus stand, a sports ground for children in the city, in addition to asking the government to take up the construction of Haj Bhavan.

Nizamabad has a considerable proportion of Muslims in its population.

Chief Minister KCR said gravel roads should be converted into BT roads in Nizamabad. KCR instructed officials to estimate the requirement for graveyards, burial grounds, integrated market complexes, community halls, municipal dump yards, and veg and non-veg markets and then quickly execute the works. KCR also instructed the construction of modern dhobi ghats and saloons.

“Public gardens should be improved immediately. Prepare plans to utilise all the vacant government lands in Nizamabad for various public purposes,” the CM ordered.

KCR's review of the municipal and urban development department headed by his son KTR, with an emphasis on Nizamabad, comes days after a public tiff between Kavitha and Arvind.

Accusing the BJP MP of “making heinous allegations about her changing party affiliations” Kavitha vowed to trounce him next time. Aravind too accepted the challenge.

Refuting the CM's claims of BJP trying to poach Kavitha, the firebrand BJP leader had said “Kavitha herself, in fact, called Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge showing interest in joining the INC.”

Following Aravind's remarks, a mob of TRS activists vandalised the Banjara Hills residence of Dharmapuri.

Nizamabad, also a city in north Telangana, is one of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, which KCR is determined to take back.