Hyderabad : Residents of Chandragiri Colony (East and West), Santoshima Nagar and adjoining colonies in Safilguda have opposed a proposal to shift the location of a road underbridge (RUB) from the sanctioned site at level crossing (LC) BP-10 in Vinayak Nagar to an internal colony road. They fear the move could lead to the demolition of hundreds of houses and affect around 1,000 families. The residents have urged the district administration and railway authorities to retain the originally sanctioned location, where preliminary works had already begun.
3, near the Bank of India, as an alternative to the sanctioned RUB at LC BP-10. K Sanjeeva Reddy, a retired railway employee and resident, said the authorities sanctioned the RUB at the Vinayak Nagar railway gate in 2008. He also questioned the feasibility of widening the internal colony road, noting that a 6-metre-by-6-metre nala runs along the stretch. Another resident, B Hanumanth Rao, said the Vinayak Nagar location was more suitable as it was an existing level crossing on a 20-metre-wide straight road, which is proposed to be widened to 30 metres under the revised master plan. Indira, another resident, said the RUB at BP-10 had already been approved with two reinforced cement concrete (RCC) boxes, each measuring six metres by 4.5 metres, along with a service road. “A budget of ₹41.6 crore was sanctioned for the project and preliminary works, including utility shifting, had already commenced. The residents said people from surrounding localities had been using the BP-10 level crossing for decades and argued that shifting the RUB would inconvenience commuters.
The authorities should explain how they plan to execute the project without causing widespread disruption to the residential area,” he said. “The road is used by Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) buses and provides access to several localities, including Moula Ali, AS Rao Nagar, Santoshima Nagar, Deen Dayal Nagar, Vinayak Nagar, Vunyala Shankaraiah Nagar, Sudhanagar, PB Colony, Brindavan Colony and DAV Public School,” he said. We do not see any reason to alter the alignment after approval and initiation of pre-construction activities,” she said. Residents opposing the proposal said the existing residential road was not designed to accommodate such a major infrastructure project and that widening it would have a significant impact on households along the alignment.
The controversy arose after the Medchal-Malkajgiri district collector reportedly wrote to railway authorities asking them to examine the feasibility of constructing a RUB along Chandragiri Colony and Santoshima Nagar Colony Road No. The proposal has drawn opposition from residents and property owners, who have submitted representations to the district collector, the Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation commissioner and railway authorities through their respective welfare associations. “How can the nala be removed or accommodated to make way for the proposed road? They urged the authorities to take residents’ concerns into account before proceeding with any change in alignment. They urged the district administration and railway authorities to construct the underbridge at the originally sanctioned location in Vinayak Nagar.