Potholes have been a perennial problem faced by the commuters on streets and roads of Hyderabad. In a welcome initiative, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has committed itself to henceforth fill the potholes within 24 hours.

A citizen’s charter released by the civic body mandates a specific timeframe for the 17 civic services on offer at ward offices in 150 divisions in the city.

On 16 June, the GHMC will switch to a ward-level administration system in order to bring the administration closer to the people. Ward offices have been set up in all the ward offices in 150 divisions under GHMC limits and ten officers from various departments will be assigned in each ward to address problems faced by the citizens.

The citizen’s charter released by the GHMC is aimed at providing prompt services to citizens, particularly when it comes to filling up potholes, repairing street lights or removing blockages from storm water drains.

The charter includes 17 civic services along with the time frames for redressing the complaints. It also mentions the staff or official who will handle the complaints along with the senior officer who should be contacted if there is a delay or fault in redressing the issue. The services that will be resolved within 24 hours’ timeframe include filling of potholes, replacement of catch pit cover, removal of roadside silt, repair of street lights, removal of carcasses of animals and anti larval operations.

The services that are to be resolved within 48 hours include removal of stagnant water, blockages of storm water drains while footpaths will be repaired within 72 hours. Garbage disposal will be tackled on the same day. Some of the tasks like licenses for pet dogs or issuing ID cards to people with disabilities or senior citizens will take longer like a week or a fortnight. The charter will be displayed in each ward office.

The ward offices will be inaugurated by minister for municipal administration and urban development KT Rama Rao on 16 June as part of the decennial celebrations of formation of the Telangana state. The ward offices will be headed by a ward administrative officer of assistant municipal commissioner rank. Recently, Rao had said no other metro city has implemented the system and soon other cities will adopt Hyderabad’s model.