Guntur Civic Commissioner finds the seat too hot

GUNTUR: Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC) commissioner K Sudhakar, who is due to retire in January 2013, has decided to leave the present post as soon as possible due to alleged political pressure. According to information, Sudhakar, who completed one year as GMC commissioner a week ago, has written to the higher-ups urging them to transfer him at the earliest.His wife K Sarada Devi is  also working here as additional joint collector for the last eight months. However, the commissioner wants to get transferred from Guntur. Sources say a senior minister, some ruling party leaders and other people’s representatives are mounting pressure on him not to follow rules strictly.It is said the commissioner mentioned in his letter the hurdles being faced by him in the implementation of schemes and development programmes.A senior public representative has allegedly demanded that all works be given to his followers, which was rejected by the commissioner. Due to this, a pipeline work worth Rs 1.50 crore was stopped. A local MLA is also pressurising the commissioner to allot works worth Rs 5 crore to the ward committees represented by his followers. The Commissioner, not yielding to pressures, transferred the works to the public health department.When a senior people’s representative asked the commissioner to give permission to a corporate hospital on the Old Club road, he personally visited the site long with town planing officials and found that the hospital authorities ignored construction norms completely.Sudhakar also faced pressures in the recent school wall collapse incident in which five daily wage labourers were killed. The owners of the building did not stop the work though they were served notices, as they enjoy the support of people’s representatives. Confirming his request for transfer, Sudhakar said there is a limit to one's patience. “I am unable to discharge my duties effectively due to political interference and I never faced this kind of pressure in my service. I asked the government to transfer me from the present place,” he said.