HYDERABAD: Lack of parallel roads haunt the next big Strategic Road Development Programme (SRDP) work in West Zone. Not only will the commuters bear the lack of road space due to ongoing multi-level flyover works on Kothaguda- Hafeezpet road, but also bear the brunt of having no alternate road. This was planned to be a 200 feet-road but is presently only 100 feet, and in fact lesser due to SRDP works.
Even though the master plan of the city has provision for a parallel road to the Kothaguda-Hafeezpet road, connecting Botanical Garden road to Manjeera pipeline via Camelot road, only 70 per cent of the works have been completed. When completed, it will be a 3.5 km road between Camelot junction and Manjeera pipeline. The major component of this alternate route, however, is the one-lane Railway Under Bridge (RUB), which is nowhere near completion into a two-lane road.
The alternate route was to connect Botanical Garden road from beside Heritage Fresh, crossing by Arbour International School all the way to 80 feet Manjeera pipeline road. However, in between, there is a one-lane RUB, that actually serves as a water duct for rainwater which needs to be expanded to a two-lane RUB.
Officials say work on this cannot begin as the road from this RUB to the Manjeera pipeline which is a stretch of 1.25 km, is not present at the moment and is a kacha road passing through various colonies.
“It is a`1.25 crore project to lay the 100 feet road between RUB and Manjeera pipeline. The MLA and the Corporator are insisting on a straight road and so there is a need for a lot of acquisitions to be undertaken. However, first, the amount needs to be sanctioned from the Chief Engineers office,” noted an official of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
Without this sanction, the project will take at least two years for completion, which is similar to the timeline of Kothaguda-Hafeezpet road. The work from RUB to the pipeline may take six to 12 months and further the project’s success will rely on South Central Railway’s permits to expand the RUB. Meanwhile, traffic has already begun choking the Botanical Garden main road and the Kothaguda- Hafeezpet road owing to the road work.
