HYDERABAD: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC)’s Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP), whose five envisaged stages will cost an astronomical ` 22,000 crore, drew a flak from environmentalists, politicos and urban planners for its careless slicing of city roads and further degradation of the city’s limited green spaces.
Chairman of the Forum for Utilization of Godavari Water (FUGW) M Shashidhar Reddy criticised the state government for undertaking the massive development project without assessing its social or environmental impact on the city. He also expressed concern over the lack of any cost-benefit analysis in the proposed plans. Reddy highlighted the undemocratic nature felling over 3,000 trees to build six junctions around KBR Park, claiming that the GOs were passed under secrecy without a detailed project report or statuatory approval.
“The struggle to protect KBR Park is not just about a few hundred trees, but also about democratising decision-making of people in important projects,” he said. The SRDP’s proposed construction of 50 flyovers attracted widespread disapproval for marginalising commuters, 42 per cent of whom travel by bus, in the name of development.
Centre for Economic and Social Studies Professor C Ramachandraiah said creation of mini-bus stations in busy junctions and use of bus lanes during peak hours, would lessen the city’s bottlenecks at a fraction of the current multi-crore SRDP.