Hyderabad: Seven junctions will witness severe traffic snarls for at least one more year due to the extension of the construction deadlines of all skyways under Telangana state government’s flagship Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP) project.
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials claimed that the project, which was progressing at a brisk pace until August last year, has been in a state of paralysis since the enforcement of the model code of conduct in September.
They claimed that the projects which were grounded had already lost eight months in man-hours and that the deadline would have to be extended by that period.
Additionally, financial crises are looming large on the skyway project as the Rs 400 crore raised towards municipal bonds was exhausted a few weeks ago. The civic body staff in charge of project execution said that the project would be delayed by at least one year.
According to highly-placed sources, the corporation had already lost eight months in man-hours owing to the Assembly, Panchayat, and Lok Sabha polls, and with the MLC and municipal polls in the pipeline, the civic body is likely to lose another three months in man-hours.
Sources explained that owing to the back-to-back polls, the corporation could not raise funds through municipal bonds and Rupee Term Loan and this had partially impacted the payments towards the project.
Although GHMC chief M. Dana Kishore has assured to release funds for the SRDP, sources said that it would be a temporary adjustment and that the project could not rely on just the civic body’s budget. With about Rs 1,100 crores grounded as of now, the corporation has no choice left but to raise funds from financial institutions.
Against this backdrop, commuters will be compelled to bear severe traffic snarls in seven junctions, where the hourly traffic is bordering at 15,000 vehicles.
The project has been grounded at seven junctions namely the Kothaguda junction, Bahadurpura junction, Biodiversity junction, Durgam Cheruvu cable-stayed bridge, Jubilee Hills Road No 45, OU Colony and LB Nagar Junction. The corporation under package IV has already completed the construction of a flyover and underpass at Mindspace junction, flyovers at Ayyappa Society, and the Rajiv Gandhi flyover in Kukatpally.
Under this package, however, the corporation has grounded two flyovers — the Bio-Diversity junction Level-1 flyover, which has been put on hold until the concerned land acquisition issues are resolved, and the Level 2 project, which has been making very slow progress.
A senior GHMC official on condition of anonymity said, “Commuters will be forced to bear heavy traffic congestion until 2021 at all sites where development is in progress. Although the corporation has completed building the Chintalkunta underpass and a flyover near Kamineni junction, the corporation must finish the construction of the other vital skyways under package IV in order to ease major traffic jams at LB Nagar, Nagole, Bahadurapura, Owaisi, and Bairamulguda.”
