Commuters cry foul over slow pace of Hyderabad-Warangal corridor works

Hyderabad: With the construction of the proposed Hyderabad-Warangal elevated corridor going at a snail's pace, travel on the entire stretch has become a Herculean task for both the commuters and the residents living in surrounding areas. They are facing difficulties. The 20-minute travel is taking an hour for commuters to cross the stretch.

The work of flyover from Uppal Ring Road to Modern Bakery towards Ramanthapur was started a year ago by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). The travellers heading towards Warangal from the city are facing severe traffic congestion at Uppal Ring Road, Boduppal, Medipalli and Chengicherla circles.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had laid the foundation in May 2018 for the six-lane elevated corridor of 6.25km being constructed from the Uppal junction to the CPRI in Warangal Road at an estimated cost of Rs 626.76 crore. The cost of land acquisition is Rs 768.26 crore. The construction cost is being borne by the Central government. The GHMC is constructing the flyover from Metro at Uppal junction at an estimated cost of Rs 311 crore.

Sources said the work is being delayed due to non-payment of land acquisition price to owners.

According to the Engineering department officials, the elevated corridor was designed to be built above the Metro station. For this officials are taking measures and planning to increase the height. "Extra steel will be used for this, the same corridor work is being carried out by NHAI from Narapally. For this officials of NHAI and GHMC have discussed with experts and came up with a design," the officials stated.

As the work is being delayed by officials, severe traffic jams are occurring in the Uppal area. Although the foundation for the corridor was laid four years ago, work began a year later. Three years have already been completed, but only 40 per cent of the work has been done.

The locals say work on the Uppal-Narapally corridor is unlikely to be completed in another two years if it continues at the current slow pace. "It takes about an hour to reach Uppal from Medipalli both in the morning and evening hours. In this hot season commuters are getting angry with traffic jams," Mallam Shankar, a commuter said.

"The entire stretch of Uppal witnesses traffic jams for about two-three hours during peak hours. We are finding it difficult to cross this stretch," said a resident T Rajesh.