Telangana Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development KT Rama Rao said on Tuesday that the state government was unable to start work on two skyways in Hyderabad due to "non-cooperation" from the Union government. The Minister said despite reminders, the process to acquire parcels of defence lands for the project is yet to begin. KTR said the state government has already issued orders to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) to spend Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 crore on the two major skyways. But the works could not be taken up as some defence land needed to be acquired, the minister informed.
The skyways are proposed from Patny to Suchitra Junction, and the Jubilee Bus Stand to Outer Ring Road spanning 18.5 kilometres. Noting that there was no response from the Union government to the state's request to hand over the defence lands, he alleged that the Union government failed to understand the problems of the people of Hyderabad. First mooted in 2019, the skyway project was initially delayed over procurement delays of 21 properties. The property owners were offered Transferable Development Rights (TDR) but the owners were insisting on monetary compensation. This had pushed the project deadline by 14 months, reported Deccan Chronicle.
KTR said that if the Union government did not come forward to transfer the defence lands, the state government would take up the work at Suchitra Junction with some changes in the proposal. He was speaking while inaugurating Balanagar flyover, which hopes to ease the traffic congestion in the area and facilitate easy movement of traffic from Kukatpally to the Cantonment area and towards Qutbullahpur.
As the day coincided with the death anniversary of Dr Babu Jagjivan Ram, KTR announced that the bridge will be named after the late leader as a tribute. As a tribute to the workers who took part in the construction work of the Balanagar flyover, the minister invited Shivamma, a construction worker, to inaugurate the flyover by cutting the ribbon. KTR pointed out that the Strategic Road Development Programme (SRDP) was taken up at a total cost of Rs 30,000 crore. Under the first phase taken up at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore, roads, bridges and underpasses were constructed. The 1.13-km six-lane two-way Balanagar flyover has been built under the SRDP at a cost of Rs 387 crore.