RuB at Uttam Nagar a bridge too far?

​Hyderabad: Thanks to the indifferent attitude of the railway authorities and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials, it is turning out to be an endless wait for the residents of Malkajgiri and Safilguda, for the Road under Bridge (RuB) at Uttam Nagar.

The works for the RuB which commenced way back in 2014 are yet to be completed. The railway authorities on their part have attributed the delay to indecisiveness on the part of GHMC officials.

Residents said the construction of RuB would ease flow of traffic for commuters going to Secunderabad or Safilguda. In the absence of a RuB, traffic comes to a stand still for about 10 to 15 minutes whenever a train passes through the Safilguda railway crossing.

“The gates at the railway crossing are closed 10 minutes before the train reaches the railway station. This creates a major problem for commuters who take the Safilguda and Gautam Nagar roads to reach Secunderabad. If the RuB is completed, there is no need to wait at the railway crossing,” said S Lavanya, a resident of Gautham
Nagar in Malkajgiri.

“At the railway crossing, traffic becomes congested whenever it rains and there are instances of bikes skidding on the roads due to water stagnation,” said N Shiva Kumar, a provisional store owner at Anandbagh. Adding to the woes of the residents, army authorities have been closing the roads of the Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) in the name of security, resulting in traffic congestion at Uttam Nagar, Gautham Nagar and Hanumapet.

“At several places, roads have been dug up and the approach roads have not been laid by GHMC till date. Whenever it rains, water gets stagnated and motorists face a lot of trouble,” said V Satyanarayana, a resident of Hanumanpet.

A senior official of the Southern Central Railways Engineering department, on the condition of anonymity said that GHMC took one year to clear the water and sewerage lines which were obstructing the proposed RuB. “For about six months, no work was done here.

The GHMC officials failed to take a decision in time and this has affected the overall work,” he said. The official was hopeful that RuB would be completed by December, 2016.

Deputy Engineer of GHMC Hari Kishore said there was no delay from their end regarding completion of the RuB. “The railway works are still in progress and it will take 18 more months to complete the works,” he said.

Meanwhile, residents of Malkajgiri area urged both GHMC and railway authorities to complete the RuB and ‘approach road’ works at the earliest to alleviate the problem of traffic congestion in the area.

By: Chitra Saikumar