Eight years after launch, Uppal elevated corridor work drags on, commuters fume

Construction of the 6.2-km Uppal-Narapally elevated corridor in Hyderabad has slowed significantly despite the completion of its concrete piers, with girder installation yet to begin. Daily commuters and local traders are facing severe traffic congestion, dust and poor road conditions.

Hyderabad: The towering concrete pillars of the Uppal–Narapally elevated corridor stand like massive monuments to official apathy, completely ready but utterly useless.

While the heavy central median piers are fully constructed, the next step of placing the horizontal concrete beams (girders) has not yet begun. The gap in work has left the 6.2-kilometre stretch in limbo, prompting anger among thousands of daily motorists over the delay.

Angered commuters complained that the area below the barren, beam-less pillars had descended into chaos. They said they were being forced to navigate a choked, dusty bottleneck every day, while completed structures overhead were providing zero relief.

Motorists travelling towards Yadagirigutta and Warangal and in the opposite direction face exhaust fumes, deep potholes, and traffic obstructions at an apparently completed project. Shopkeepers along the stretch report persistent dust and declining footfall as customers avoid the congested corridor.

A senior MMC engineer told Telangana Today, “An acute labour shortage has emerged as the main bottleneck slowing the project. 

Most specialised workers, who hail from northern Indian states, returned to their native areas for Ganesh Chaturthi and extended their stay through Dussehra. The site is operating with a skeleton crew, leaving heavy machinery idle beside empty pillar caps.”

The 6.2-kilometre Uppal–Narapally elevated corridor, which started in 2018 may miss its revised June 2027 completion deadline. In September, R&B minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy announced the revised schedule, but the project may face further delays.