Hyderabad: Major road-widening project in Old City hits roadblock

Hyderabad: One of the major road-widening projects in the Old City, from Himmatpura, in Shalibanda, to Doodh Bowli, in Hussaini Alam, remains at a standstill. It hit a roadblock allegedly due to delay by authorities in acquisition of properties on the stretch. The acquired properties are slowly being encroached.

According to the GHMC Town Planning wing, road-widening of about two km stretch has been undertaken with the aim of providing better connectivity to important localities, like Shalibanda, Hussaini Alam, Fateh Darwaza, Charminar through Khilwath. "The project is not going ahead without completely demolishing the structures on the way," said an officer.

A total of 178 properties have been acquired, while 63 are pending on the stretch. For widening at Dhoodhbowli 192 properties have been acquired. Of them 108 are yet to be demolished. Alleged Mohammed Ahmed, vice-president, TDP Minority Cell, "the properties acquired for the project are being encroached once again. The owners are constructing houses and shops by swallowing about 5-8 feet.

This is being done due to the negligence of the civic authorities. A case was also booked in Hussaini Alam police station for encroachment of land." He pointed out that the road widening work started in 2016 is yet to take a shape; it was planned to be completed in 2018. Hardly 70 per cent of demolition has been completed till date. Road-widening is a hard-pressing issue, but the civic body's negligence has rendered the project a failure."

According to residents, since last one year there has been no activity in the project. After land was acquired no road was laid and debris was left on the road which led to an accident. "Recently, due to bad road and debris, an elderly woman fell from bike and received severe injuries. Likewise, many accidents were reported on the stretch due to bad roads," said Afzal, a resident of Fateh Darwaza.