HYDERABAD: In a massive relief to the residents of Balangar, Fatehnagar, Kukatpally, Bowenpally, Quthbullapur and Jeedimetla areas, the much-awaited Balanagar flyover was thrown open to commuters on Tuesday. As a tribute to the workers who constructed the flyover, Ministers KT Rama Rao, T T Srininvas Yadav and Ch Malla Reddy invited Shivamma, a construction worker from Wanaparthy, to inaugurate the flyover. Rama Rao, who declared the new flyover open for traffic, named it ‘Babu Jagjivan Ram Flyover’.
He said that the government will give due respect to all the workers who are involved in the development of Hyderabad. Stating that Balanagar is a major traffic hotspot in the city, the Minister said that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao wished to turn Hyderabad into a trafficfree city.
“Flyovers, bridges and underpasses are being built as part of the Strategic Road Development Programme (SRDP),” he said. The 1.13-km, six-lane and two-way flyover was built under the SRDP at a cost of `387 crore. Its advantages include free flow of Inner Ring Road traffic from Kukatpally towards Secunderabad, which would help save on travel time and fuel costs. Reduction in air pollution and noise levels are added bonuses. In a first in the country, precast and post-tensioned technology was adopted in the major elements of the flyover’s substructure and super structure.
Land acquisition for projects
Speaking about the pending projects in the city, Rama Rao said that the State government was ready to construct two skyways from Patny to Suchitra junctions and another from Jubilee Bus Station to Turkapally to ease traffic, if the required defence lands were handed over to it. He said that a few projects in the northern part of the city had hit a roadblock as the Central government failed to consider the State’s requests pertaining to land acquisition.