Hyderabad scales down KBR Park roadworks to single elevated corridor
Hyderabad has decided to replace 14 planned flyovers and underpasses around KBR National Park with a single elevated corridor, citing smoother one-way traffic and high land acquisition costs.
The Telangana government has decided to drastically reduce the road infrastructure planned around the Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (KBR) National Park in Hyderabad, cutting the number of structures from 14 to one under the Hyderabad City Innovative & Transformative Infrastructure (H-CITI) project.
The revised plan envisages a single two-way elevated corridor from Jubilee Hills Check Post to Nagarjuna Circle, replacing the earlier proposal of seven flyovers and an equal number of underpasses around the park. Officials said the corridor would create a signal-free stretch for vehicles travelling to and from Madhapur, Hitech City and beyond.
The decision follows the smooth flow of traffic around the park after the road was converted to one-way. A senior official said the government decided to redesign the project after observing that vehicles were moving without hassle under the one-way arrangement, though discussions on how to take the plan forward are still ongoing. Talks are being held with the agency that was awarded the work through tenders, and a formal order is yet to be issued as final details of the single structure are being worked out.
The original design covered junctions at Jubilee Hills Checkpost, the KBR National Park entrance, Road No. 2, Road No. 45, Film Nagar (Road No. 82), Road No. 12 and Road No. 10 with two- to four-lane flyovers and underpasses. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, the implementing agency, faced criticism from citizens' groups, which protested that the structures would concretise the surroundings and harm the park. Environmentalists had long suggested a one-way system, which the Hyderabad Traffic Police initially adopted as a temporary measure to prevent logjams during construction.
Property acquisition costs also weighed on the decision to revise the project. The original design required the acquisition of 247 properties, some owned by politicians, film personalities and other VVIPs. None of the owners agreed to accept Transferable Development Rights in lieu of compensation, which the government had pushed for, leaving it to procure the properties under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. Applying the Registration department's recently revised market values would place a heavy burden on the exchequer given the premium real estate around the park.
Several owners have already moved the High Court against the acquisition, while a case disputing the Eco Sensitive Zone fixed for the park is pending in the Supreme Court.