Hyderabad: After nine months, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has built just three pillars for the Balanagar flyover. The flyover was to be built in 18 months, and faces a delay of about a year.
The HMDA has acquired just 27 out of total 357 propoerties needed in this time.
Work on the flyover from Balanagar crossroad to Narsapur crossroad was inaugurated by minister K.T. Rama Rao in August last year.
A HMDA official claimed that the work was been delayed due to apathy of the GHMC. They claimed that the corporation had failed to acquire land for which HMDA had secure consent from the property owners.
The HMDA has secured consent for 49 properties whose owners have accepted structural compensation. The official said the corporation was delaying the acquisition process though the HMDA had paid '25 crore towards structural compensation and was ready to pay any amount as per the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 once the corporation acquires the property.Asked about the block, a corporation official said they were facing resistance from local leaders.
A senior HMDA official said, “We can understand if they could not acquire property or land where they faced public resistance. But the corporation did not even acquire properties for which we have taken consent and earmarked '265 crore for structural compensation.” The flyover is estimated to cost '400 crore.
He said that out of 357 properties, 82 were government owned and were under the control of private people and 49 property holders had given consent. He said that had the corporation acquired the properties, half the work would have been completed.
A GHMC town planning official said the road width ranges from 80 feet to 100 feet, adn the idea was to extend it to between 150 feet and 200 feet. This is where the corporation had been facing resistance from local traders.
Asked about not the GHMC not acquiring government-owned land and properties where consent had been secured, he only said the HMDA was deliberately passing the buck.
