Governor too has garbage woes!

If you think the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is turning a blind eye to the garbage in your neighbourhood, you are not alone.

It seems even Governor ESL Narasimhan isn’t spared.

“I have been trying to get the garbage dump near the Raj Bhavan road removed for the last three years,” he revealed and expressed the hope, like so many in the city, that the civic body would clean up the mess at least for the sake of the ensuing bio-diversity conference.

The Governor was speaking at the inauguration of an exhibition of sculptures carved out of stone and metal scrap ahead of the bio-diversity conference at the Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University here on Friday.

In a pep talk, he pointed at the shortcomings and in the same breath, offered the officials encouragement.

Terming the team in the government as well as the GHMC as a young bunch, he said, “Today, we are the youngest government with a young chief minister, mayor and municipal commissioner. We have to get the State back to the list of attractive tourist destinations.”

In a lighter vein, he referred to himself as Bhishma Pitamaha, the elder statesman, of the young bunch of administrators.

 While the Governor was all praise for the sculptors and artists, he repeatedly reminded the officials of their duty and stressed the need for better garbage disposal system, road signs, greenery development, footpaths.

 He also pitched for increased usage of bicycles on city roads besides rain water harvesting and tapping solar energy.

 Major Industries Minister Dr J Geeta Reddy explained that the State government was doing everything in its power for the smooth conduct of the bio-diversity conference.

 “10 groups have been formed to look after accommodation, protocol, food and entertainment of foreign delegates,” she said, adding that a pylon and a museum would be unveiled to mark the conference.

 Mayor Mohammed Majid Hussain, who was also present, acknowledged cooperation extended by the state, and said `450 crore had been sanctioned for the conference.

 He listed the various works being taken up by the GHMC for the beautification of the city.

 Stone Sculptures

The sculptures of stone and metal scrap attracted the attention of one all.

 Fifteen well-known sculptors from countries like New Zealand, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, Japan, Serbia etc along with their counterparts in India and students had worked on them for the last one month.

 Sponsored by the State Bank of Hyderbad, the workshop cost an estimated `75.

29 lakh.

 The sculptures will be placed at different locations in the city.

 MV Ramana Reddy, who has been working in the field for 28 years, said, “this was an excellent opportunity to interact with sculptors from other countries, share thoughts, experiences and ideas.

 The amount of international exposure the youngsters received was great.

” He termed the idea of placing sculptures in parks and other places in the city as revolutionary.

 A student, Mohammed Ghouse, who participated in the workshop, said, “working with a renowned artist like Vledan from Serbia and assisting in his work has given me immense knowledge, experience and exposure.

 Learning the art of carving with almost no electronic equipment is amazing!”