Plans Afoot to Make Hyderabad Signal Free City: Revanth Reddy
With modernization and urbanization, the city will have to face more new challenges in the future: CM
Hyderabad:Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said that the state government had envisaged plans to transform Hyderabad into a “traffic jam- free city” and a “traffic signal-free city” through the construction of underpasses, surface roads and an extensive elevated corridor network. Multi-level parking complexes and integrated multi-modal transport systems would be developed to ease traffic congestion, the Chief Minister told a parliamentary standing committee on urban affairs here on Saturday.
The meeting was attended by standing committee chairperson Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and committee members, including Congress MP Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy. Revanth Reddy said widening roads alone would not be sufficient to effectively manage traffic in a rapidly expanding metropolis and stressed the need for a multi-modal transportation approach. “We are striving to transform Hyderabad into a traffic-free city. In key areas, we adopted a multi-pronged strategy to facilitate smoother traffic flow through underpasses, surface roads and elevated corridors,” he said.
The Chief Minister pointed out that rapid urbanisation was posing challenges and underlined the need to develop infrastructure in tune with evolving demands. He presented a detailed overview of the challenges likely to arise due to increasing modernisation and urban growth, as well as the measures the state government was undertaking to address them.
Revanth Reddy explained that the government had formulated plans to develop Telangana by categorising the state into three distinct zones — CURE, PURE and RARE, for the core urban area within the ORR, a peri-urban area between the ORR and the Regional Ring Road, and the rural agriculture region economy.
Revanth Reddy affirmed the government’s commitment to systematically develop Hyderabad, particularly the CURE region within the ORR limits, by addressing current challenges and aligning future growth with long-term requirements. The Chief Minister also presented the ‘Telangana Rising-2047’ Vision Document, which outlines comprehensive plans to transform Telangana into a $1 trillion economy by 2034 and a $3 trillion economy by 2047.
As part of efforts to reduce air pollution, the Chief Minister said the government was introducing electric buses into the fleet of TGRTC in Hyderabad. The government planned to retrofit autorickshaws operating within the CURE and convert them into electric vehicles free of cost as part of air purification measures.
During the meeting, senior officials made a presentation before the standing committee on the government’s plans relating to Hyderabad’s drinking water supply, urban development, rejuvenation of the Musi River and major urban infrastructure projects. Revanth Reddy appealed to the committee members to take the initiative in securing greater cooperation from the Centre to accelerate Hyderabad’s development.
The committee described the Musi project as a revolutionary initiative and observed that the project, aimed at improving the living standards of residents, was the first of its kind in the country. The committee commended the Chief Minister for taking up the ambitious project and also praised the measures being implemented by the Telangana government for women’s empowerment.
Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao, along with senior officials from the state and central governments, attended the meeting. Earlier, the Chief Minister felicitated the chairperson and members of the parliamentary standing committee.
