SRDP Phase 2 runs into land acquisition hurdles

Hyderabad: Land acquisition hurdles are haunting the state government's flagship Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP) phase-2 project.

The government has accorded administrative sanction of Rs 4,305 crore for construction of 15 projects, including skyways, an underpass , road under bridges (RuBs) and one road over bridge (RoB).

Authorities said that as per the preliminary estimates, the land acquisition cost is coming to around Rs 3,200 crore. The works proposed include the construction of six flyovers, one underpass, four RuBs, one RoB, a bridge across Fox Sagar surplus nala, a Y Junction and a tunnel at Khajaguda, which itself requires an administrative sanction of Rs 1,080 crore.

In SRDP Phase-2, five projects were proposed in the Charminar zone, four in Khairatabad zone, two each in Secunderabad and Kukatpally and one each in LB Nagar and Serilingampally zones.

This apart, the corporation has added another 15 Atgrade road project, which involves road widening at arterial stretches as part of SRDP Phase 2. Authorities said that if the project has to be executed it has to acquire land worth Rs 3,200 crore. Officials said that new Atgrade road proposals have played spoilsport, where acquisition cost was estimated at about Rs 2,200 crore apart from the land required for skyway projects.

A senior GHMC official told Deccan Chronicle that monetary compensation to property owners will not be possible, which is why they would be asked to take the transferable development rights (TDR) option. TDR certificate gives the property owners whose land has been acquired, the rights for development to construct an additional built-up area anywhere in the city and the person can also sell the TDR certificate.

Land owners would be issued 400 per cent of TDR for master plan of roads widening, 200 per cent for lakes and water bodies and 100 per cent for heritage buildings He said the civic body has acquired over 380 acres of land to build flyovers, RuBs, build link roads, widen roads, nalas and beautifying water bodies without shelling a rupee.

The official said that instead of giving monetary compensation, the GHMC issued 1,049 TDR certificates worth Rs 3,500 crore in compensation and as a result, the financial burden on the corporation has drastically reduced.

He said that the TDR could be used within HMDA limits according to the property owner's choice.