Balanagar flyover work still unfinished

THE TIME period to execute the project would end by this month and GHMC is yet to acquire 40 per cent of properties out of a total of 357.

The delay in Balanagar flyover construction has been irking commuters. Delay in the land acquisition process and lack of co-ordination between the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has hit the progress of the project and it is not even 50 per cent complete in three years.

Interestingly, the project could not see any progress even after the intervention of Municipal Administration and Urban Development minister K.T. Ramarao and Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar. The project could hardly see any progress since nine months due to difficulties over the land acquisition.

Highly placed sources in the HMDA said that the time period to execute the project would end by this month and GHMC is yet to acquire 40 per cent of properties out of a total of 357.

Out of 357 properties, 82 were government-owned and were under the control of private people and 49 property holders had given consent.

Had the corporation acquired the properties, half the work would have been completed. They said that the flyover construction would have been completed by this month if the properties were acquired according to the Land Acquisition Act, 2013.

The corporation has wasted three

precious years by negotiating with the properties even though the HMDA was ready to pay the compensation.

However, a senior HMDA official said that 15 out of 23 piers had already been grounded and remaining were pending since January due to the delay in land acquisition. He said that the municipal authority has been ready with the pre-cast structure which would be installed immediately after the completion of the project and flyover construction would be completed by April next year.

The official said that the HMDA will soon hand over 82 government properties under the control of private persons. He said that the HMDA has given the nod to erect eight more piers. He said that the authority will taken up the roadwidening immediately where the road width ranges from 80 feet to 100 feet to make it 150 feet and 200 feet.

“The HMDA would to pay any amount as per the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 once the corporation acquires the property since the amount earmarked for it was a whopping `265 crore,” he added.

GHMC town planning officials were unavailable for comment.