Centre clears defence land allotment for Mehdipatnam skywalk

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) announced that the construction of the skywalk would be taken up soon, addressing long-standing concerns over pedestrian safety due to heightened traffic at the Mehdipatnam Rythu Bazaar.

Hyderabad: After much dilly-dallying, the Defence Ministry has finally agreed to hand over its land at Mehdipatnam to the State government for construction of the much-awaited skywalk at the busy junction.

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) announced that the construction of the skywalk would be taken up soon, addressing long-standing concerns over pedestrian safety due to heightened traffic at the Mehdipatnam Rythu Bazaar.

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On Wednesday, the Central government approved the allotment of 3,380 square yards of land to the Telangana government for the skywalk project. In exchange, the State government will provide infrastructure valued at Rs.15.15 crore to the Defence Ministry, apart from paying a license fee for a portion of the land for the next 10 years. The Defence authorities have agreed to hand over the land within the next four weeks.

The previous BRS government had attempted to secure about 0.51 acre (around 2,468 sq.yards) of defence land at Mehdipatnam, but faced obstacles, which resulted in the skywalk project getting stalled midway. Despite repeated requests, the Defence Ministry did not respond to requests for the land transfer, leading to increased traffic issues in the area.

After the formation of the new government, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy took up the issue and had called on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during his recent visit to Delhi on January 5. To his requests for clearing hurdles for public infrastructure projects, the Defence Minister responded positively, according to an official statement.

To accommodate the Defense Ministry’s concerns, the Chief Minister revised the skywalk’s design, aligning with suggestions from the Central government.

The Chief Minister has instructed relevant officials to expedite the construction of the Skyway promptly, the statement said.