The Hindu : Three new rail bridges cry for attention

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 18, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad

Three new rail bridges cry for attention

By K.V.S. Madhav

HYDERABAD Jan. 17. Even as the Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, has drummed up excitement among the citizens over Hyderabad's own underground rail service, three new rail bridges languish in the heart of the City. One incomplete road overbridge with huge pillars sticking out like sore thumbs at Jamai Osmania, a rail underbridge at Alugaddabavi, which is complete, but without a road for users and a fully-completed causeway at Bouddhanagar without a pathway!

Did someone say underground trains?

And a foundation stone is laid for yet another road overbridge amid fanfare, this time at Seethaphalmandi where traffic movement is badly hit owing to a railway crossing. A train passes by the place every 20 minutes leading to huge traffic snarls at the oldest locality in Secunderabad. The problem is as old as the place itself. But, will it take off, and if so, be ever completed or go the way of the nearby Jamai Osmania ROB, is the lingering doubt among the local residents.

It is not rail bridges alone, there are several sprawls of slums and residential localities situated along the Secunderabad- Kacheguda and Secunderabad-Moulali railway routes that cry for attention of the authorities thanks to the appalling civic conditions.

That in short sums up the state of affairs in the 10th Ward Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad. Mettuguda, Chilkalguda, Mylargadda, Seethaphalmandi, Bouddhanagar, Manikeswarnagar, Lalapet, Shantinagar, to name some wards.

``An ROB at Seethaphalmandi was a long felt need of people as they face lots of inconvenience every time the level crossing is closed,'' the Tourism Minister and local legislator, T. Srinivas Yadav points out. The Rs. 7.11 crore ROB with a span of 34.5 meters and a carriage width of 12 meters is proposed to be completed in 18 months and even turned into a model railway station as it formed part of the Multi Model Transport System.

``Several such railway projects meant to smoothen road traffic flow and avoid hassles for road users have invariably got delayed, '' points out a resident of Seethaphalmandi citing examples of Fatehnagar and Lalapet ROBs.

K. Narayana, Bouddhanagar corporator and chairman of the 10th Ward Committee, says the delay in these cases were either due to problems in land acquisition or because of road widening works. While the contractor for the Jamai Osmania ROB `had backed out owing to increased costs', there was a change in the original plan to extend the span of the bridge by another two meters.

If the rail trail cutting through these wards forms the backbone of these wards, some of them though relatively well developed are plagued with the usual civic problems. Predominantly middle class localities with a sizeable number of slum dwellings, some of these wards have little or no underground drainage system, poor water supply system and bad roads. And this has been the case for the last several years.

Renuka Raghunath, Chilakalguda corporator, points out that an underground drainage system was constructed for several localities like Chintabavi, Doodhbavi and Markandeyanagar and the entire ward would be covered in the next two or three months.

Says Congress corporator from Lalapet, N. Varaprasad, "Funds pertaining to several projects in my ward, particularly those relating to water supply and sewerage, have been diverted to other areas of the City at the behest of local Ministers and MLAs.

He alleges that an MCH shopping complex which was to have come up in the ward was `hijacked' at the behest of the Mayor, T. Krishna Reddy, and converted into a beggars' home. Similarly, a college building and a park proposal for the ward were also kept in cold storage. He also cites the example of the Rs. 32 lakh proposal for a water reservoir wherein "funds were sanctioned, but diverted to another municipality by a ruling party Minister of the Rangareddy district.''

``But where is the water,'' asks Narayana. "It is the biggest problem in all the wards. We are doing our best by pressing into service water tankers. Unless there are rains and Krishna waters, whatever we do will be stopgap arrangements only.'' If it is winter of discontent for some corporators and people, a summer of meagre water content awaits everyone. And the corporators are keeping their fingers crossed.

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