Hyderabad Gears Up For An Ambitious Road Development Project

There is no doubt in the fact that Hyderabad is Bengaluru in the making as a number of IT/ITes companies are flocking to the city for establishing their base in India. Subsidised land, attractive incentives and ease of business have made Hyderabad the second Silicon Valley of India. However, with increasing jobs, the population of the city has increased manifold which is putting excessive pressure on the existing infrastructure, especially on roads and physical infrastructure. This is the reason why Telangana government came out with one of its ambitious projects, Strategic Road Development (SRD). 

What is Strategic Road Development Project?

Strategic Road Development project is all about improving the road network in the city for smoothening the woes of daily commuters. While the main city area is already too  congested, the traffic going towards suburban areas has to pass through the particular interchanges and junctures which add on to the traffic jam. To curb this, the development authority has planned skywalks, flyovers, ring roads, corridors, revamping bus stations, external roads, pedestrian safe-ways. In the first phase, 57 roads will be developed at an expenditure of Rs 208 crore and is expected to be completed by March 2018. The entire project costs more than Rs 2500 crore and involves the construction of six skyways (111 km), 11 corridors, 54 junctions and 68 major roads.

What are the major hurdles for developing SRD?

Being a road development project, the journey isn't easy for the developing agency, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). While the land acquisition is a major hurdle, clearance from National Green Tribunal is another challenge for the corporation. The green court has already struck the expansion of road network at Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills as it involves cutting down of trees in the area. In another instance, work on a flyover and grade separator at Owaisi Hospital and Research Centre at Santoshnagar as well as at Bahadurpura has been stalled following stiff resistance from a local legislator who has claimed that existing roads are capable to handle the traffic volume and that new roads would block the hospital's entry.

Apart from this, official sources said that another SRDP route that covers a flyover, grade separators and junction improvements at L B Nagar Junction, Bairamalguda, Kamineni Hospital and Chintalkunta Checkpost could not begin as Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) has not finalised the project alignment. This road will be connecting Nagole, L B Nagar, Chandrayangutta and Aramgarh stretches to Shamshabad International Airport.

Is it aspirational?

As SRDP involves construction in the congested hubs of Hyderabad, issues pertaining to land acquisition, NGT clearance, changes in the existing route are inevitable. As per the authority officials, maximum time is being taken in the acquisition of properties which are owned privately. Moreover, since new roads are being developed on the outskirts of the city where the green cover is dense, the objection of NGT is unavoidable. While the city planners have said that major changes are being made in the plan after the resistance from local legislators and politicians, it is still becoming hard to arrive at a common consensus at several junctions where personal motives of influencers are getting hurt. While the deadline for completing this ambitious project is three years, chances are high that this might get extended just like Hyderabad Metro which is already running late by more than 20 months.