Hyderabad: Coming down heavily on the Union government for ignoring the repeated pleas from Telangana on Defence land for two crucial skyways, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao said that if the Centre continued its silence, the State would take up the project on its own.
“The State government will make necessary changes to the initial plan and execute the project with its own funds if the Union government fails to respond anymore,” he said.
“If they come forward and hand over the Defence land, it’s well and good, we will execute the works immediately. Even if they don’t, at Suchitra Junction, we will make alterations to the plan if necessary and execute it,” the Minister said while speaking at the inauguration of the Balanagar flyover.
Earlier, he pointed out that it was due to the Union government’s delayed response to land acquisition that the two crucial skyways in the northern part of the city had taken a backseat.
“We want to build two skyways i.e., from Patny to Suchitra and Jubilee Bus Stand to Outer Ring Road (ORR), Turkapally. The money has been arranged, HMDA officials have been given all instructions about the project, and we decided to go ahead with the project even if the expenditure might run into Rs 3,000 crore or Rs 4,000 crore because it is for the people. But for the last four years, we have been struggling to get a response from the Union government to allot the required Defence land that comes in the way of the project,” he said.
“Unfortunately, there are some Defence lands which need to be acquired to build these two skyways, but the Union government is refusing to help us. They have not been responding to our pleas for four years and they do not understand the woes of the people of Hyderabad, as a result of which these skyways are getting delayed,” he said.