Malkajgiri: Road widening yet to finish after 4 years

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is taking more than four-and-a-half years to complete the four lane road under the railway bridge at East Anandbagh, Malkajgiri. Residents complain that since then the road is closed, it is causing great inconvenience to the colony people. They also stated that even after minister K. Taraka Rama Rao gave word in April, when he came to inaugurate a nearby construction, that he would soon look into the issue, work has hardly commenced. Colony associations have sent repeated appeals through mails regarding the work.

Mr Ramalingeswara Rao, a resident of East Anandbagh, said, “The much-awaited construction started very recently, but it hasn’t moved any further than digging up of roads and that too was filled up in the recent rains.” The major festival of the colony, Vinayaka Chavithi, is about to begin, and residents are worried about how the situation would be in these half dug roads works.

Mr Suresh Kumar, general secretary, Anand Bagh Residents Welfare Association, stated, “Our colony road has been closed for this RuB. From then on, traffic has become very slow for the past four years due to closure of roads. School children, citizens and women are finding it difficult to cross the road. Business has also come to halt due to this. And recently a mechanic injured himself while trying to use this road and the vehicle also got damaged. Nothing substantial has been done regarding this problem on the ground.”

The colony association members say that all the four departments are involved in the work-  Electricity, Water Works, Roads and Buildings and GHMC, of which, Water Works has done the most irresponsible job. “We don't know why the roads have been removed and re-carpeted so many times for the pipeline work. It’s better if all the departments sit together, coordinate and work properly.” they said.
When contacted, Mr. N Raghu Prasad, Zonal Commissioner, said, “The road work is now being handled by the Railways and the work is slow as one needs to be careful with the railway track. It will speed up eventually.”

A GHMC official also mentioned that now they were working on a new improved plan for the project and the work would finish within two years as the funds had also been allocated for the same. The residents even took to twitter regarding the issue in order to gain the attention of authorities concerned. A tweet from Pendyala Chakrapani, reads, “L&T could complete Metro project in a committed time with dedication 5 to 6 years, whereas a very small project like constructing a railway under bridge at East Anand Bagh still not completed even after five years. Hats off to GHMC team for their commitment.”