What is common to Diamond Point, Picket, Jubilee Bus Station and Balamrai stretches? Well, these are a few among the worst roads within the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) limits. Jolting up and down while driving on these pothole-riddled roads, motorists have a harrowing time.
Yet, the SCB authorities seem to be oblivious to the problems facing road users and the condition of roads in the Cantonment area. While a few roads were not re-carpeted for some months, several others were dug up for civic work and left with some patchy repair.
Promising re-carpeting, the civic authorities had dug up the Gunrock Enclave Road in January for laying underground pipelines.
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While the authorities claim to have completed the pipeline work, full-fledged re-carpeting of the road is yet to begin.
It is tough to drive or walk on the stretch, and similar is the condition of roads in most colonies, fumes E. Venkata Ramaniah, president of the Confederation of Cantonment Resident Welfare Associations.
The need for good roads rose with the formation of the GHMC. The SCB, which was alien to the Municipal limits earlier, now appears to be an integral part of the GHMC, though not in terms of operations but geographically.
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Notwithstanding hundreds of people shuttling across the SCB and surrounding Municipalities like Malkajgiri, Kukatpally and Alwal everyday, the condition of connecting roads is poor. Be it Kukatpally-Dairy Farm-Lal Bazaar route, where grits protruding from the road surface greet motorists, or the YMCA-Marredpally police station-AOC route or Suchitra Junction-Old Alwal-Rajiv Rahadari route, there is no end to the plight of motorists.
Last year, the authorities had enhanced the budget allocation for maintenance work from Rs. 14 crore to Rs. 18 crore including Rs. 5 crore for improving water supply, Rs. 4 crore for drains, Rs. 7 crore for road repair and Rs. 2 crore for buildings and new parks.
However, all these appear to be confined to papers, and nothing much has been done on the ground. It is true that the condition of roads has gone from bad to worse in the Cantonment area, but it is owing to various projects being taken up under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) to lay underground pipelines and those pertaining to underground cables, says J. Pratap, elected Board Member from Ward No. 3.
Despite shortage of funds, several roads were re-carpeted recently in connection with Ramzan and Bonalu. This apart, the authorities have identified several stretches, including main roads and colony and slum roads, that need repair and have already invited tenders worth Rs. 6 crore.
Once the agenda gets approved at the next board meeting to be held shortly, work will commence, he adds.