TRS politicos oppose new link roads in Hyderabad that could ease traffic pressure
Hyderabad: TRS MLAs, MLCs, corporators and party leaders are resisting the plan of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to develop link and slip roads to take the traffic pressure off arterial roads. The GHMC proposes to lay 131 such roads.
The move has irked several party leaders since most of the link roads pass through residential areas, eating up built area. Most of these lands were owned by politicians. The henchmen of political leaders in the name of the residents got into confrontations with the corporation at several locations and even threatened to stop the work immediately.
According to highly placed sources, TRS men hindered the slip road work in over 50 locations. They have been provoking residents not accept for GHMC's proposal since the roads would eat up the built-up area in the near term and entire property in the near future in the name of road widening.
Though 28 link roads do not require any land acquisition according to the master plan, political leaders are up in arms against the civic body claiming that they own land adjacent to the road.
Though several elected representatives tried to convince the leaders that this was being done in the public interest, none of them was ready to accept the civic body's proposal despite instructions given by the minister.
Irked by this, Rama Rao held a review meeting recently and gave a stern warning to political leaders in the presence of officials. He said if they do not co-operate with the proposal, the issue would be dealt with seriously and they would face severe consequences for opposing developmental works.
A senior GHMC official, commenting on the link roads, said “After completion of these roads, the corporation would lay roads where minimal land acquisition is required and later prior roads will be shifted, which requires more property acquisition. The property acquisition will be compensated through transfer development rights (TDR). If everything goes according to plan, the work would be expedited and completed prior to the lockdown ending. However, political leaders in the respective areas were creating numerous problems in the area,” he added.
Of the 131 link and slip roads that the GHMC is building, it has handed over 35 to Hyderabad Road Development Corporation Limited (HRDCL) for development.
The roads include a 20-metre link road connecting New Allapur with Sunnam Cheruvu, a 100-feet one km link road from GV Hills to Masjid Banda Road via Prabhupada layout, a 2.2-km link road from Nizampet to Hitex junction road via Vasanthnagar and NAC, a link road from HT Lines to Miyapur, a 230-metre link road connecting Botanical Garden Road, Kondapur, with the Hafeezpet railway track, a 200-metre link road from Akshaya Food Court, Gokulnagar, to NH 9 via IDPL and a 1.8-km link road from Miyapur Metro depot to Masjid, Kondapur, via IDPL Employees Colony.
