Hyderabad may soon get India’s longest tunnel road

Presently, the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel is the longest in India at 9.20 km and connects Kashmir to the rest of the country.

Image used for representational purposes.

HYDERABAD: If things go as per plans, Hyderabad will have the country’s longest Highway Road Tunnel, tentatively about 10 km from Jubilee Hills Road No 45 Junction to Banjara Hills, Road No. 12 Junction. The proposed four-lane tunnel will wind its way via the KBR Park junction to NFCL Junction, Punjagutta and would be dug using a Tunnel Boring Machine.

With the State government assigning the task to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the civic body is going for a feasibility study and detailed project report by engaging technical consultants from the world over.

Presently, the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel is the longest in India at 9.20 km and connects Kashmir to the rest of the country. A plan to dig a longer tunnel in Mumbai never saw the light of the day.

The Telangana government has decided to explore the option of a tunnel road as it would help avoid felling hundreds of trees in the KBR Park for the SRDP project. The government had earlier proposed six junctions around the KBR Park by constructing multi-level flyovers under the SRDP project, but this required felling of over 1,500 trees.

The consultancy selected should

• Prepare a DPR for construction of the tunnel along with approach roads.
• Take into account lighting, ventilation, safety, operation and maintenance needs etc.
• Establish technical, economical, and financial viability of the project, taking into account tunnel alignment, approach roads design, earthquake protection measures, provision of service roads, intersections, rehabilitation and widening etc.

Tunnel may save hundreds of trees

A few years ago, while giving its nod to the proposal, the Union government said that the GHMC should not touch the trees inside the first boundary wall of the park that come under the ESZ. The trees outside the second boundary wall did not come under the ESZ.

Against this backdrop, Municipal Minister KT Rama Rao instructed officials to explore the possibility of an underground tunnel to avoid felling of any tree.

GHMC officials told Express that SRDP was conceived with the objective of achieving signal-free intersections enabling faster movement between important destinations across the core city.

As part of SRDP, several grade separators have been constructed at various places like the flyover on Road No. 45, MindSpace Junction, Biodiversity Junction including the cable-stayed bridge at Durgam Cheruvu. However, even the completion of the SRDP flyovers and the cable-stayed bridge has brought little respite from daily traffic congestion at several junctions on these road links from Punjagutta and Banjara Hills Road No 12.

The consultant will need to understand

• Transport network to the approaches of KBR Park
• Various origin points for planning direct underground road connectivity to Road No 45 Junction
• Carry out necessary traffic analysis using CTS traffic demand model to identify best tunnel origin and destination points.
• Prepare pre-feasibility study report to ensure minimal adverse impact on local population and road users
• Ensure minimal impact on the environment and minimal additional acquisition of land