HMDA’s Elevated Corridor Construction From Paradise to Dairy Farm Gained Speed
The project that includes a 3.095-km elevated stretch and 1.705-km at-grade section was expected to be completed within 36 months.
Hyderabad: Construction of the much-awaited NH-44 elevated corridor from Paradise Junction to Dairy Farm Road has picked up momentum, even as land acquisition and statutory clearances continued to delay parts of the project.
The 5.4-km corridor, being developed by the HMDA at an estimated cost of Rs 1,487 crore, will also consist of a 600-metre tunnel passing underneath the Begumpet airport. The project that includes a 3.095-km elevated stretch and 1.705-km at-grade section was expected to be completed within 36 months.
According to the latest project status, authorities told Deccan Chronicle, around 30 per cent of the corridor was under construction, and civil works were moving forward quickly. Officials said that they are also working towards acquisition of defence and private land parcels for the project.
Of the 3.2 km passing through defence land, about 2.2 km had been handed over, while work on the remaining one km was awaiting revised working permission from the defence ministry. Land acquisition awards for the 1.6-kilometre stretch involving private land are yet to be passed.
The corridor will pass through Secunderabad, Tadbund and Bowenpally before terminating at Dairy Farm Road. Officials said that the 600-metre tunnel will begin at the Race Course bus stop and move under the airport, and surface in front of the Ahle Sunnat-Wa-Jamat graveyard. Authorities are waiting for permission from the airport authorities for tunnel works underneath the airport.
Despite these obstacles, authorities said the construction activity has accelerated. As a part of road widening operations, swaths of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board’s (SCB) pump houses at Balamrai and Bowenpally had to be relieved, and HMDA has taken up the replacement of pumps and other structures. Officials also stated that another pump house at the Race Course is yet to be handed over to HMDA by the Defence authorities.
For the flyover part of the project, foundations have been completed for 18 of the 20 pillars, with 18 pillars already erected and work on six pillar caps also being completed. In Stretch-II, seven foundations and three pillars have been completed out of the planned 90 pillars and 33 girders have already been cast.
Supporting infrastructure linked to defence establishments is also advancing. Out of the planned 2.79 kilometer defence compound wall, 2.10 kilometers has been completed, while the remaining work is under progress. Additionally, work has begun on 29 of the 36 defence-related structures identified under the project. However, seven structures remain pending as authorities await approved line drawings from the Defence Department.
HMDA said it was working closely with the defence ministry, the revenue Department and other agencies to speed up land handover and obtain the remaining clearances so that work can continue uninterrupted and the crucial corridor can be completed on schedule.
