Allegations leveled against GHMC for link road project
With mounting pressure from builders and land owners, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) authorities are actively contemplating the construction of a link road connecting Navayuga SEZ, situated opposite the West Zone of GHMC, and Chandanagar railway station in Serilingampally. The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 17.10 crore. The GHMC authorities have taken up this project on a priority basis inspite of there being several other roads that are in urgent need of repair works. A proposal in this regard has already been send to the standing committee for approval, by the GHMC officials.
GHMC by-passes pre-requisites:
The rationale behind the development of link roads is to de-congest thoroughfares, besides reducing the distance between two destinations. The regular practice before considering the construction of new roads is to take into consideration the traffic volume that can be seen on the existing road at any given point in time and the same that can be expected on the new link road. However, in the case of this proposed link road, the civic authorities seem to have bypassed these essential pre-requisites. According to information obtained from reliable sources, the 2.3 km, proposed link road, is not of any immediate significance to commuters due to the road ending abruptly at the Chandanagar railway station.
Railway over-bridge project more purposeful:
Incidentally, most of the areas of any prominence like Mumbai highway as well as many residential colonies are on the other side of the railway station. Instead of a link road at this strategically important road, a rain-over-bridge would have served more purpose as it would have connected the proposed road with the highway as well as the residential colonies. However, this would require considerable amount of funds as well as the approval of the South Central Railway. Besides, the traffic volume on the University of Hyderabad road, appearing along the proposed link road, does not warrant drastic de-congestion measures. Also, if the link road is constructed, authorities are apprehensive about the volumes of traffic that would effectively use the road. To add to its woes, the GHMC has acquired land from private property owners for a proposed 150-ft wide, 4-lane road, when it is not actually needed. Meanwhile, allegations are being raised that the proposed road is being constructed to benefit many realtors and land owners who have invested in land along this stretch.
Other instances of negligence by GHMC:
In the midst of all this, a blame game is being played between the Engineering wing (projects) and the Town Planning wing of the GHMC with respect to who should be held responsible for moving the proposal for the link road. The proposed link road is being planned more as a futuristic project so as to pro-actively deal with traffic volumes that could be encountered in future. There have been earlier instances as well when the GHMC has had to face the heat with regards to road construction projects. There is a vigilance case that is under investigation for the road developed from the north of the National Academy of Construction (NAC) campus to the railway under-bridge which connects Kukatpally. A similar allegation was leveled against the GHMC in the case of the development of the road adjoining Annapurna Studios.
