Hyderabad: Shastripuram RoB ready but awaits inauguration, commuters frustrated

A fully completed Rs 80-crore Shastripuram RoB in Hyderabad remains unopened, awaiting inauguration by the Chief Minister. Frustrated commuters have begun using it illegally, citing long delays despite the bridge promising major traffic relief on the busy stretch.

Hyderabad: Though completed in all aspects, the 190 metre long Shastripuram Road over Bridge (RoB) is yet to offer relief to the hassled commuters on Mailardevpally-Vatepally stretch as it awaits the Chief Minister, A Revanth Reddy, to inaugurate it.

However, the commuters irate at the delay in inauguration have removed the barriers placed on one side of the Rs 80 crore steel RoB and have started to use it.

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Five years in the making, the Shastripuram RoB is stated to be ready for commuting, but residents express frustration over the delay in officially opening it to the public and demand a quick inauguration.

The proposal to construct a RoB on the Mailardevpally-Vattepally stretch at Shastripuram was moved in 2017 to ensure an alternative to the Uddamgadda railway crossing, but after prolonged delays, work began in 2021 and took five years to complete. The bridge reduces significant congestion at the railway level crossing in Uddamgadda, where commuters frequently experience long waiting times whenever trains like passenger and goods trains, pass, a GHMC official said.

Once the RoB came into operation, scores of commuters travelling across Falaknuma, Shastripuram, Vattepally, Katedan, Aramgarh and towards Shamshabad would get free traffic movement. The facility is 490 metres long and nearly Rs 80 crore was spent, he said.

Shastripuram RoB not only will ease traffic movement locally but also will serve as a key route for daily commuters heading towards National Highway-44, the PV Narasimha Rao Expressway and Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. Traffic from surrounding areas of Bibi Ka Chasma, Falaknuma, Vattepally, Shastripuram, Teegalkunta, Nawab Sahab Kunta (towards Shamshabad), Katedan and Aramgarh will benefit immensely, the GHMC official explained.

Motorists these days have been taking a detour of nearly 4km via National Police Academy (NPA), Shivarampally or the Falaknuma-Chandrayangutta route to reach Bandlaguda road. Now, this will be reduced to a travel of just three to five minutes.

“The GHMC has completed the works and kept the facility ready for inauguration. We are expecting the inauguration by the end of this month or the first week of May,” GHMC sources told ‘Telangana Today’.

However, the locals are frustrated at the delay in opening the much-awaited facility. “We have patiently waited over the past five years, and now the RoB is completed. Why should the GHMC keep it closed, waiting for a VIP inauguration event and make us continue to suffer?” said Raheem Basha, a resident of Shastripuram.