Hyderabad's busiest flyovers languish for makeover

Hyderabad: The GHMC blames the topography of flyovers, huge concrete buildings and absence of sunlight for the poor maintenance of the green cover in the underbellies of Secunderabad’s busiest flyovers.

The Sardar Patel and Paradise flyovers in Secunderabad area, stretched for about two km, are in urgent need of a makeover as they have empty spaces underneath that are marked by poor green cover. Most of the saplings planted there have stunted growth and are withering away. This is in stark contrast to the under-flyovers at Panjagutta and Telugu Talli, which have vibrant green belts to provide respite to the commuters.

Disappearance of green spaces is not the only issue. The Secunderabad stretch of the under-flyover area has no proper lighting, light reflectors or railings at multiple points. Another eyesore for the commuters is the degenerating murals on the pillars of most flyovers in the city which now lie blackened due to lack of maintenance.

The GHMC’s biodiversity wing blamed the urban planning wing for the withering green in the stretch. “The two flyovers, Sardar Patel and Paradise, are constructed in east-west direction. So the plants lie in the shadow area and do not receive adequate sunlight. Plants therefore do not sprout or grow,” noted V. Damodar, Director for Urban Biodiversity, GHMC. The Telugu Talli, Panjagutta flyovers are made across north-south, making them good spots for green cover, he noted.

As for the murals commissioned five years ago in 2012, they are nearly unnoticeable now due to the soot accumulated upon them. The executive engineer of GHMC, D Suresh, noted that there have been no proposals since their construction their revival.

As greening is not the best plan for the areas under flyovers at the Secunderabad stretch, the GHMC still has no alternative plan to reuse the redundant landscape. When asked if they had plans to recreate the areas as jogging plazas, similar to that in Mumbai city, or the rest areas for commuters and traffic police, officials said they had no idea on these.

This makes Hyderabad fall behind other metros like Mumbai that inaugurated an under-flyover garden and recreation area in Matunga last year.

The beautification of these spaces was done to mainly prevent them from turning into unregulated, illegal areas for hawkers and beggars. But the lack of railings and poor maintenance at some places have been major disadvantages.

Connecting Hyderabad

• City to get two new flyovers (elevated corridors) in Amberpet and Uppal.
• Central Road Transport and Highways Ministry gives nod for both projects.
•  Uppal flyover estimated to cost Rs 960 crore. Of this Rs 330 crore is for land acquistion.
• Four-lane flyover from Uppal to Nandanavanam Bhagyanagar will cover 6.4 km.
• Amberpet flyover set to cost Rs 243 crore, including Rs 130 crore for land acquistion.
• It will be built from Golnaka to Ramanthapur, a distance of 1.4 km.
•  KTR wants land acquisiton to be completed in two months.