KBR Park FOB may be dismantled for steel flyover works

The foot-over-bridge near KBR Park and L V Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad may be dismantled as it has become a bottleneck for ongoing steel flyover projects. The bridge currently serves hundreds of patients, elderly citizens and commuters crossing the busy Banjara Hills road

Hyderabad: The future of the Foot-Over-Bridge (FOB) located near KBR Park and L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) hangs in the balance, as the ongoing steel flyover construction projects might force authorities to dismantle the structure.

On a daily basis, the FOB serves hundreds of patients visiting LVPEI, their relatives, elderly citizens and commuters crossing the busy Road No. 2 in Banjara Hills.

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However, senior GHMC officials have maintained that the bridge has now become a bottleneck for the ongoing works related to the construction of steel flyovers near KBR Park.

Multiple infrastructure projects are underway in and around KBR Park, and all of them pass perilously close to the FOB, GHMC officials said.

Some of the projects coming up in this area include a four-lane bi-directional first-level flyover between the KBR Park entrance and Road No. 36, Jubilee Hills, a two-lane uni-directional second-level flyover between Yousufguda and Road No. 45, Jubilee Hills, and a three-lane uni-directional first-level flyover from the Punjagutta side to Jubilee Hills Check Post Junction.

A senior GHMC official explained that since all the proposed flyovers will pass very close to the FOB, its removal has become inevitable.

“The pillar work for the steel flyovers near Park Hyatt, which is very close to the FOB, is underway at a brisk pace. As a result, dismantling the FOB is inevitable. It will be done only after completion of the flyover infrastructure works,” a GHMC engineer said.

The FOB, inaugurated on August 16, 2010 by former Governor ESL Narasimhan, was once hailed as a first-of-its-kind project in India. Built under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model at a cost of Rs 3 crore, it was specifically designed with elevators and escalators to assist patients from the nearby L V Prasad Eye Institute and elderly pedestrians.

However, in the last year or so, the bridge’s utility has declined, with elevators and escalators remaining completely non-functional. The GHMC has cited maintenance challenges, including frequent power outages and mechanical failures, as the reason for the decline.

As a result, commuters, particularly patients and senior citizens, are forced to take the stairs. The neglected lift shafts have also become a source of public frustration due to poor hygiene.