HMDA begins SCB elevated corridor works from ending point amid protests over land acquisition

HMDA has begun work on the 18.5 km elevated corridor from the Shamirpet end, triggering protests from property owners facing land acquisition along a proposed 200 ft road. Over 1,100 properties and 2,100 trees will be affected as construction moves forward

Hyderabad: In a departure from the usual practice of commencing infrastructure works from the starting point, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) began construction of the elevated corridor between Gymkhana Grounds and Shamirpet ORR limits in Secunderabad Cantonment from the ending point on State Highway-1 (Rajiv Rahadari).

Several property owners are protesting HMDA’s decision to acquire land for a corridor along a 200 ft right-of-way between Vikrampuri Colony (near Secunderabad Club) and Bollaram. The existing road width ranges from 30 ft to 50 ft, but HMDA plans to expand it to 200 ft. Approximately 1,100 residential and commercial properties would be affected under the proposed alignment.

All the affected property owners formed a Joint Action Committee and held protests for the past couple of years, but HMDA proceeded with the blueprint for the elevated corridor. The owners demanded that the corridor’s width be confined to 100 ft instead of 200 ft so that fewer properties would be impacted. This could be the reason HMDA started work from the ending point at Shamirpet on the 18.5-kilometre elevated corridor, a senior HMDA official attributed.

Before taking up deep earth excavation works for the elevated corridor, the HMDA is currently cutting the trees and translocating them at a brisk pace at Shamirpet. According to the HMDA urban forest wing enumeration, around 2,100 trees aged between five to 50 years and above will be affected as part of the elevated corridor. Most of the trees are located on the premises of several reputed Defence installations between Hakimpet Air Force Station and up to MSME, Karkhana, an HMDA Urban Forest official told Telangana Today.

For the elevated corridor from Gymkhana Grounds to Shamirpet ORR limits on State Highway-1 (SH-1), a total of 459,222.70 square metres of defence land was transferred to HMDA, against ‘Equal Value Land’ (EVL) and cash compensation, said the official. The Hyderabad district administration also issued an official notification to acquire the necessary land for the elevated corridor.