Cost Sharing issues stall Balanagar flyover project

The plan for the construction of a flyover at the Balanagar T-junction has been stalled due to issues related to cost sharing. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) was entrusted with the construction work on the flyover, the corridor of which belongs to the Roads and  Buildings (R&B) department. However, with regards to cost sharing of the project, the R&B officials remained tight-lipped, with no commitment being made to the GHMC. The GHMC already has its hands full with regards to construction of more than a dozen other flyovers and road-over-bridges. In such a scenario, it cannot be expected that the GHMC will shell out money from its own pocket to fund the construction of flyovers which come under corridors belonging to other departments.

Cost estimate of proposed project:

The flyover was proposed to be constructed between Fatehnagar and Balanagar junction on National Highway 9. The total cost estimate for the project was put at Rs.90 crore, of which Rs.76 crore was estimated for construction of the flyover structure and Rs.14 crore was to be utilized for land acquisition.

Pressing demand due to traffic snarls:

The demand for a flyover at this strategic stretch along which there is a high traffic density, especially during peak hours has been pronounced since several years, with citizens and public representatives taking the issue up with the GHMC authorities. On a daily basis, it is estimated than several lakh motorists use the T-junction, which links the city with the industrial belts situated around Balanagar and Jeedimetla. With traffic  snarls being the order of the day along this stretch leading to a virtual slowdown in vehicular movement, the need for constructing a flyover at this junction was considered to be given top priority. On its part, the municipal corporation which decided to go ahead with the project, conducted feasibility studies along with preparing a cost estimate for the project.

GHMC puts onus back on the R&B department:

With work on the project being stalled indefinitely, GHMC officials put the onus back on the R&B department to take a call regarding cost sharing on the flyover project. Meanwhile, GHMC has announced that it will do ahead with its other flyover and road-over-bridge projects, for which the nitty-gritties related to pre-construction formalities were being worked upon. Due to the construction bottlenecks at the sites of various proposed flyovers and railway over-bridges, commuters have to put up with long waits along such stretches. Besides they have to bear with issues related to  noise and air pollution, which is common.

Other infra projects similarly affected:

The imbroglio between different governmental bodies like the GHMC, the R&B department, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) with respect to cost sharing on many crucial infrastructure projects, is causing inordinate delays in such projects taking off. Some of the instances in which a consensus has not been reached between the different bodies is in the cases of construction of railway over-bridges at Uttamnagar, Tukaram Gate, Kandikal Gate, Safilguda and Uppuguda. Similarly, a flyover construction project at Che Number Chowrasta has also been indefinitely stalled due to the lack of a common road approach being met.