Southern RRR to be Declared a National Highway After TS CM Meets Gadkari
Hyderabad: Decks have been cleared for the declaration of the southern part of Hyderabad Regional Ring Road (RRR), along its 182-km stretch traversing Choutuppal, Amangal, Shadnagar and Sangareddy, as a national highway by the Centre.
Following the recent announcement declaring the 158-km-long northern part of RRR as a national highway, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday requested Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari to declare the RRR southern part as a national highway as well.
Gadkari responded positively to the Chief Minister’s request and instructed the NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) to prepare the proposals to declare the southern section of RRR a national highway.
The declaration will pave the way for the Centre to bear the project cost, besides bearing 50 per cent of the land acquisition costs. Gadkari also agreed to bear the cost of shifting utilities obstructing the construction of the northern part of RRR amounting to nearly Rs 200 crore.
The Chief Minister and the Union minister also discussed the Centre-Telangana dispute over the removal of utilities on the alignment of RRR’s northern part, from Choutuppal to Kandi via Bhuvangiri and Toopran.
Around 10 months ago, during the BRS regime, the state government was asked to bear the utility shifting costs. As the state government then did not agree, a standoff continued.
After assuming charge in December 2023, Revanth Reddy sent a letter to the NHAI agreeing to bear the cost of relocation of utilities. On Tuesday, Gadkari inquired about the issue with NHAI officials and ticked them off for asking the state government to bear the shifting costs.
Gadkari said that if the state government bore the cost of relocation of utilities, half of the toll revenue would have to be paid to the state government.
Gadkari assured that the Centre would bear the cost of relocation of utilities and asked Revanth Reddy to speed up land acquisition and procedural processes related to the construction of the RRR.
In the meeting that lasted for about one-and-a-half hours, Revanth Reddy brought to the attention of Gadkari the challenges being faced in the expansion of national highways.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, roads and buildings minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, R&B secretary K.S. Sreenivasa Raju and Telangana Bhavan resident commissioner Gaurav Uppal also took part in the meeting.
Apart from the RRR issue, Revanth Reddy appealed to Gadkari to grant permission to expand national highways in Telangana and upgrade important state highways to national highways. The Chief Minister handed over a list of state roads, explaining their importance and asking for their development as national highways.
Revanth Reddy also requested Gadkari to approve a proposal to widen the national highway from Hyderabad to Vijayawada to six lanes and the road from Hyderabad to Kalwakurthy to four lanes. Gadkari responded positively to the requests.
Gadkari also asked the Chief Minister to send necessary proposals for the grant of CRIF (Construction of Rural Infrastructure Fund)