Hyderabad: Despite the Bio-Diversity flyover having claimed four lives in less than three weeks, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has been compromising on safety standards on another flyover constructed under the Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP).
The corporation has compromised on the design of the Jubilee Hills Road No 45 flyover which leads to the hanging bridge at Durgam Cheruvu. The civic body, which earlier planned to construct a six-lane elevated corridor by widening the road up to 120 feet, has now restricted it to four lanes by widening the road only up to 100 feet.
An official claimed that the road widening was restricted only to minimise land acquisition costs. But it could endanger the lives of motorists, about 2.4 lakh of whom are expected to take the road daily.
According to highly placed sources in the corporation, the design change could be dangerous even though the flyover has been built in compliance with Indian Roads Congress (IRC) norms.
Like the Bio-Diversity flyover, the Jubilee Hills Road No 45 also has a steep curve at Dr B.R. Ambedkar Open University, which is very prone to accidents, even though the height of the crash barriers has been raised, sign boards indicating the speed limit have come up and rumble strips have been added. Sources said that despite a warning from the independent committee which was formed after the Biodiversity flyover tragedy, the GHMC has done nothing about the dangerous curve.
The independent committee in its report stressed that the width of the curve should be enhanced though it was constructed on par with IRC guidelines.
When queried about the same, a senior GHMC official, requesting anonymity, said that the corporation did not change the design, rather the width of the road beneath the flyover has been compromised upon. The official said that the corporation will take additional care at the curve at Dr B.R. Ambedkar Open University.
"The civic body has instructed the private agency that is maintaining the flyover to increase the height of the crash barrier, install rumble strips, and put sign boards to control the speed limit as specified by the
independent expert committee report. We have already laid 43 piers out of 53. Remaining 10 piers have rocky terrain underneath so it will take us two additional months to lay the foundation. The corporation will complete the construction by May and traffic will be allowed on the cable stayed bridge at Durgam Cheruvu only after completion of Jubilee Hills Road No 45 flyover,” the official added.
