KTR opens 2.6 km-long VST-Indira Park flyover

HYDERABAD: The VST-Indira Park steel flyover was opened to the public by MA&UD minister K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday.

The structure was named after the late Nayini Narsimha Reddy, the first home minister of separate Telangana state, in the event where ministers T. Srinivas Yadav and Mohd Mahmood Ali, family members of Narsimha Reddy and senior officials were present.

As the flyover passes through the RTC Crossroads, which is a hub of movie theatres where new Telugu movies are released, Rama Rao, invoking cinema, said: “Abhi tak jo deka sirf trailer hai, puri cinema abhi bhaki hai (In these 10 years, what we have shown is just the trailer, the full-length cinema is yet to come).”

Rama Rao said that the flyover was a key project to decongest the RTC Crossroads and commuters were facing hardship in travelling.

“We have developed Tank Bund in a similar manner. The Lower Tank Bund will also be developed and we have a proposal to develop Indira Park on global standards. Now, Hyderabad is the talk of the nation as it continues to march towards being a global city.”

Not missing the chance to canvass voters for the upcoming Assembly elections, Rama Rao said that the BRS government has been key to communal harmony.

“Earlier, in this city, we used to witness curfews and communal riots ever so often. Since our government came into power, we are able to maintain the fabric of unity and communal harmony,” he said.

Appealing to voters, he said, “Do not make any mistake (in voting) as your small mistake will take Hyderabad back to how it was earlier. This government, in two terms, has brought a glorious transformation. The next term will also be for BRS government without a doubt.”

Rama Rao cited the Dr B.R. Ambedkar statue, new Secretariat and Martyr’s Memorial as indicators of Hyderabad’s transformation, saying that these projects, along with planned ones, have rejuvenated areas of Tank Bund and PV Narasimha Rao Marg (Necklace Road).

The steel flyover is the 36th project under the Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP). Apart from flyovers, other projects under SRDP include underpasses, bridges, and grade separators.

Rama Rao said that the steel bridge solves the decades-old problem of traffic snarls at Ashok Nagar junction, Ramnagar junction, Azamabad, VST Crossroads and Vidyanagar.

Officials said that the steel flyover is a first-of-its-kind project to be taken up by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) under the Telangana government’s flagship SRDP programme.

Built at a cost of Rs450 crore, the entire flyover is made of steel. The flyover is 2.62 kilometres long, with the elevated corridor accounting for 2.436 kilometres. It will facilitate free traffic movement from Indira Park to Vidyanagar, by bypassing four junctions at NTR Stadium, Ashok Nagar, RTC and VST.

This flyover also marked the first instance of such a structure going over a Metro line.