Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is said to be exploring options to construct an underground tunnel at the controversial KBR Park junction to avoid chopping of trees for the flagship Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP) project.
In 2015, the state government proposed to develop six junctions around the KBR National Park by building multi-level flyovers under the SRDP. This required felling of more than 1,300 trees for widening the roads. As part of the same, it proposed modification of the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) and finalised reduction of the park’s walkway to between 3 metres and 29.8 metres from the present 25 metres to 35 metres from its boundary.
In 2020, the union ministry of environment and forests cleared the state government’s proposal to reduce the width of the walkway while the expert committee of the ministry sought a detailed report after conducting a public hearing over the draft notification. The Centre gave the nod to the state government in which it said that the corporation authorities should not touch trees inside the first boundary wall of the park, which completely fell under ESZ. The trees out of the second boundary wall did not fall under ESZ. Against this backdrop, in a recent review meeting held by municipal administration and urban development minister K.T. Rama Rao instructed the officials to explore the option to construct an underground tunnel from Jubilee Hills Check-post to Cancer Hospital Junction (Road No. 10 Junction). He asked the officials to check the viability so that it would not disturb any tree.
A senior GHMC official, requesting anonymity, told Deccan Chronicle that the authorities had been conducting a study to construct an underground tunnel near the KBR junction. He said with the Centre's clearance, the corporation would construct two flyovers at Jubilee Hills Check-Post junction (level two) and at Road No. 45 junction (level one). The official said out of six skyways, only four would be constructed. He said the corporation had decided to construct two flyovers at Maharaja Agrasen junction (Road No. 12) and Cancer Hospital junction (Road No. 10).
The official further said that for construction of flyovers at Jubilee Hills Check-Post and Road No.45 junction as many as 270 trees should be translocated and over-all, the corporation would translocate as many as 800 trees, despite constructing a tunnel and skyway at the KBR Park entrance. He said the estimated cost of the project was around Rs 322.92 crore. The official also made clear that the government would soon announce the good news for commuters travelling in and around the KBR Park.
