The residents of the Srinagar Colony and the Bharathi Nagar Colony in the city are put to a lot of inconvenience due to the ongoing construction of the Benz Circle flyover.
“The main motive of building the flyover was to ease the movement of traffic on the roads but the construction has not only led to the increase in the traffic but also caused loss to several businesses in the area,” said Vittal Chunduru, a resident of the area.
Around 50,000 houses with a population of over 2,50,000 people are living in the colonies connected to these service roads. Moreover, many offices and business establishments also have been established on either side of the NH.
Residents and commercial establishments in the area began to face inconvenience when a Reinforced Earthen (RE) Wall was built in the landing portion of the flyover from the Guru Nanak Nagar Road crossing up to Hotel Novotel.
Revised plan
As per the revised plan, RE walls were built across the 540 metres stretch, from Executive Club Junction to the end of the approach road, i.e., Srinagar Colony, making the roads inaccessible to the residents of the colony and the commercial establishments it houses.
“When the project began, the initial plan was to lay the approach road at Ramavarappadu Ring Road in the city. However, due to the construction of the five-star hotel and the political pressure that followed it, the National Highways Authority of India has decided to build the approach road near the hotel, instead,” rued Sarat Rao, another resident of the area.
“As per the guidelines of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, for a 200 feet wide National Highway at least 10 metre wide service roads are to be provided on both sides of the NH. However, the RE walls have reduced the width to 4 metres only, further congesting the road, making it inaccessible,” he added.
Another resident, G. Nageswara Rao, said that there was a tremendous drop in business activity in the absence of proper approach since the NHAI started this flyover work from January, 2019. Many of these are bound to shut down if the required 10 metre service roads are not provided at the earliest.Mr. Rao said that to ensure that the width was increased to its stipulated limit, many business owners were approached by the NHAI for land acquisition.
“The notices were also served in February, 2019 for acquiring this land required for providing this 10 metre service road on both sides of the NH and the landowners are also willing to part with their lands after receiving the compensation. But unfortunately, the compensation amount has not been paid in total to the landowners till date,” he added.
“We have drafted a letter, requesting the authorities to issue necessary orders to the NHAI for the early completion of service roads as per the original design width of 10 metre on each side,” said Mr. Sarat Rao
Krishna District Collector A.MD. Imtiaz, who visited the site along with the NHAI officials, upon being requested by the residents of the area, said that a letter had been sent to the NHAI, requesting them to do the needful.
“The cost of acquiring the lands, which have been marked in yellow, amounts to ₹ 21 crore. Although the NHAI issued tenders to this effect, they claim that they lack the funds to do so. We hope that the funds are sanctioned by the authority on time,” he said.
