GHMC tussle over Durgam road delay
Though the GHMC officials had assured Mr Rao of completing the project by April, they claimed that the works may be dragged till December.
Hyderabad: The construction of a crucial flyover on Road No. 45, Jubilee Hills is stuck due to inter-departmental tussle at the GHMC over the consent of property owners for the project.
While the town planning wing claims it got consent from all property owners, engineering officials say they have only the consent of only three out of 21 property owners.
According to sources, the town planning officials have submitted false proposals to municipal administration and urban development minister K.T. Rama Rao and assu-red him that the land acquisition would be completed by November 1.
Officials said the corporation has built 38 out of 55 pillars till August 2018 and since then the project did not progress due to the delay in the land acquisition at Jubilee Hills Road No. 45.
The flyover on Road No. 45 is crucial for linking Madhapur and Jubilee Hills through Durgam cable bridge project. Its delay could affect the opening of the elevated corridor.
Though the GHMC officials had assured Mr Rao of completing the project by April, they claimed that the works may be dragged till December.
The work on the connecting cable stayed bridge at Durgam Cheruvu, however, has been progressing at a brisk pace. If the bridge is inaugurated in February, the entire west zone and a part of central zone will be gridlocked as around 2.4 lakh vehicles will be stuck in traffic jams at any given time of the day.
According to highly placed sources, a town planning official has updated Mr Rama Rao when he sought information over phone during a midnight in October. The official, according to the sources, told Mr Rama Rao that the land acquisition would be completed in October last week and the land would be handed over to the engineering wing by November 1 for the construction of the flyover.
“The town planning official had also told Mr Rama Rao that they have offered Transfer Development Rights (TDRs) to 21 property owners to save `40 crore towards land acquisition and that 20 of 21 members have already accepted it,” the source claimed.
Contrary to the town planning official’s version, the GHMC has issued cheques to four property owners as per the Land Acquisition Act 2013. While the base rate for a square yard of land was fixed at `1.2 lakh, property owners have been demanding `3 lakh a square yard.
The officials accuse the town planning department of submitting false project reports to the MA&UD minister to impress him, while blaming the engineering wing for the delay.
“We are facing an embarassing situation with Mr Rao during the review. Despite knowing the actual progress of the project, they have been giving false information to the minister. We cannot contradict our collegues in front of the minister,” the official said. The town planning officials, however, refused to comment on the issue.