AOC Circle alternative roads delayed over Defence land transfer

The proposed alternative roads around AOC Circle in Secunderabad Cantonment have been delayed due to the pending transfer of Defence land. The Rs 960-crore project requires nearly 42 acres, with the Telangana government identifying State land for the transfer

Hyderabad: Alternative roads at AOC Circle are yet to take off due to an inordinate delay in transferring Defence land, which has affected the progress of the proposed road options in the area, with the transfer process remaining pending.

On June 8, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy laid the foundation stone for the alternative roads through the AOC Centre at Rs 960 crore. Since then, there has been no progress in the infra project.

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According to the blueprint, two alternative roads, Safilguda Level Crossing to Entrenchment Road and Safilguda Level Crossing to R K Puram Road Over Bridge (RoB), surrounding the Army Ordnance Corps (AoC) Circle in Secunderabad Cantonment, are to be constructed by the Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation (MMC).

To build a 2.91-kilometre alternative road from Safilguda Level Crossing to Entrenchment Road, MMC needed 24 acres of Defence land, and another 10 acres of Defence land to construct an alternative road from Safilguda Level Crossing to RK Puram RoB. “Works will commence for these proposed two alternative roads after transferring nearly 42 acres of Defence land for the infra project,” a senior MMC engineering official told Telangana Today.

The Telangana government identified 153 acres of land at Shamirpet Firing Range, which belonged to the State government, for transferring the 42 acres of Defence land under the ‘equivalent value of land’ category. The infra project was taken up under H-CITI (Hyderabad City Innovative and Transformative Infrastructure).

An MMC official said the transfer of Defence land to MMC was expected in the next month, and that working permission had already been given by the Local Military Authority (LMA) to MMC five years ago.