ROW OVER WIDENING OF NATIONAL HIGHWAY

The road widening for the proposed National Highway 7 has hit a roadblock at Shamshabad. Road widening at Shamshabad requires acquisition of properties of the 400-year-old Noori Masjid. The masjid committee had raised objections to the road widening plan and suggested a flyover be constructed instead. However, the local shopkeepers and building owners are objecting to the proposal of the flyover.

The proposal for expansion of National Highway 7, from the existing four lanes to six lanes, has been pending for almost a decade now, due to the land acquisition problem in Shamshabad.

The National Highway Authority of India had issued a notice to the masjid committee asking it to shift the masjid for road widening, but the committee had opposed the proposal.

Masjid committee president Shaik Ali Abbas said that they will take a decision only after consulting religious and political leaders.

MIM legislator and leader Akbaruddin Owaisi and other MLAs visited the site and made representations to the NHAI requesting it to redesign the project plan excluding the masjid. The 400-year-old masjid at Sidhanthy village, near Shamshabad railway gate, dates back to the Qutub Shahi period and owns 28 guntas, which includes the area occupied by the structures, the balance of which is used as a graveyard. The masjid and its property are notified as a Wakf property.