Facelift to all highways in Telangana on cards

Hyderabad: National highways in Telangana are set to get a big facelift in tune with the increasing vehicular traffic. The Union Ministry of Road Transport and National Highways is ready to pump in nearly Rs 7,000 crore in the Telangana state alone to upgrade the existing national highway network in the new financial year 2023-2024.

All the main national highways connecting Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra states will be developed as six-lane and four-lane roads to help the commuters to move fast and have a safe journey.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has recently conducted a study on the busy National Highway - 65 connecting Hyderabad and Vijayawada. The report disclosed that the vehicular traffic had multiplied between LB Nagar and Malkapur on 25-km stretch during the last three years and recommended to the Union government the necessity of the expansion of the existing highway into six lanes.

"For this purpose, the Union ministry earmarked Rs 535 crore to upgrade the highway into six lanes. More than 60 per cent of the funds will be utilized for land acquisition as the land cost was much high on the particular stretch," a senior official said, adding that once the 25-km highway expanded into 6 lanes, the other stretch which has been maintained by the private agency will also take up the upgradation works at the identified spots on the busy highway.

The NHAI had also proposed Rs 355 crore funds to upgrade the NH-765 which connects Medak- Siddipet on 70 km stretch. The expansion of this highway will facilitate free flow of the increasing vehicular traffic coming from Hyderabad and other parts of the state on the particular stretch.

Officials said the Centre had allocated Rs 322 crore to develop Kalwakurthi- Kolhapur junction on NH-167. The vehicular traffic from old Nalgonda district, Rangareddy, Hyd and some Andhra districts on this highway created traffic jams during the peak hours. The expansion of the particular highway will not only ease traffic problems but also help develop the junction as an industrial hub in the future. It is also proposed to expand Bodhan–Basara-Bhainsa connecting NH –161 at the cost of Rs 280 crore. The Centre sanctioned Rs 254 crore for the development of four-lane network on NH -167 between Mahbubnagar and Chincholi. About Rs 248 crore will be spent to develop NH-765 into two lanes between Siddipet and Elkathurthi. The officials also said that Rs 229cr (Medak – Yellareddy), Rs 309cr (Yellareddy – Rudrur on NH-765), Rs 273cr (Khammam – Kuravi section on NH-365), Rs 247cr (Adilabad junction on NH-353 B), Rs 200 cr (Nizampet to Bidar border on NH-161 B) and Rs 500cr to construct a cable bridge across river Krishna on NH-167 will be spent for the development of highways in the new financial year.