Telangana: Electric poles make road expansion project futile

Hyderabad: The radial road expansion from Shaikpet to Narsingi area has run into controversy yet again as the contractor has not moved 100 electric poles on the 4 kilometer-long-stretch of road. This gross negligence has resulted in an eyesore of mammoth proportions. The newly widened road in the road widening project undertaken by the HMDA now has electric poles right in the centre of the road. The said stretch, radial road number 5 which starts from Shaikpet and runs all the way to Narsingi village near the ORR, crosses the three villages of Manikonda, Puppalaguda and Neknampur where a large population of IT employees reside. 

 “In some areas the electric pole is one-fourth into the road, and at other places it is standing three-fourth into the road”, says Mr Sitaram Dass, President of the Federation of All Colonies Residents Welfare Association.

The mismanagement has now led to traffic snarls in the area. “What was the point of expansion, if the road cannot be used? I have been tweeting to the electricity department but they say it is the HMDA contractor’s job. Whose responsibility is it?” asks Mr P Ashok. The road has been widened to 10 meters with a two-lane carriageway.

The expansion work had begun 18 months back but the contractor who had been first assigned the job i left it mid-way in July. A new person was hired. Officials now say that about 10 per cent of the work is left which will be over by month-end. In July, the locals living along the 4 km stretch had protested about the slow pace of work on the planned four-lane road.

Meanwhile, an official from HMDA said, “Once the road formation is done, the electricity team of HMDA will work on this. We did not want to bring in a line break as it was the festival season.”