Delay RUBs salt into wounds of Anandbagh, Uttamnagar
Residents, businesses suffer as MMTS to Moula Ali stalls over a small tunnel.
Hyderabad: Residents of Anandbagh and Uttamnagar face the prospect of being cut off from the city for an extended time as the Moula Ali connectivity of MMTS is set to get delayed further, thanks to an unfinished road-under-bridge at Anandbagh.
Railway officials, who are working on laying the box structures of RUB, the project faces delay as the numerous pipelines under the bridge have not been shifted out.
“Railways is in charge of the two-box structures that need to be fixed under the bridge. But we cannot proceed because GHMC is yet to shift out the pipelines,” says Mr Mohammed Nuruddin, deputy executive engineer of constructions, South Central Railway.
These pipelines, like Manjeera water supply lines and electricity lines, lie underneath a narrow tunnel, which is now the only pedestrian connectivity for East and main Anandbagh.
According to Mr Nuruddin, if the MMTS lines are to be laid, then the tunnel will be blocked, cutting off the only pedestrian connectivity. The existing railway line is for goods trains and cannot be used for MMTS as the track type is different.
“It has been two years since the RUB work started, and ever since, traffic has been diverted to narrow roads. Why should we suffer for so long,” says Suresh Kumar, a resident of Anandbagh.
The project, which started in 2015, shifted hands from the Road and Buildings department to the GHMC but without the transfer of sufficient funds. Officials say some '60 crore has been spent on the project so far, to no avail.
Meanwhile, residents and businesses have been the biggest losers. Two buses on the route were cancelled, 16A and 38 A. “No big vehicle can pass through those narrow roads, even the school buses now stop far away,” says Prakash Patel, a resident. Businesses have shutdown, too. “No vehicle can come up to our shops, and the mud and construction material has made it impossible for people to walk. Our business has been hit by more than 75 per cent,” says the proprietor of Sai Venkateshwara handlooms.