Centre orders fresh survey on Hyderabad Regional Ring Road

The 339 km Regional Ring Road project beyond Hyderabad's Outer Ring Road is expected to take longer than expected because the centre is said to have ordered a new survey on the volume of traffic on its southern corridor, which spans 181 km.

The resurvey was ordered after the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) expressed concerns about the project's viability due to traffic volumes of less than 5,000 to 6,000 vehicles per hour on the southern corridor.

The question was whether such a large-scale project could be grounded for such a small number of vehicles.

The state government told the federal government that only after the north and south corridors were linked in a ring would a clear picture of traffic emerge. Only when the road is aligned in a ring will it be useful.

After that, traffic on the southern corridor would be similar to that on the northern one. The prestigious four-lane expressway project, which is expected to cost Rs 7,512 crore, is split into two sections: northern and southern corridors.

After two surveys, the Ministry has approved the final alignment for the northern corridor, which connects Sangareddy, Narsapur, Toopran, Gajwel, Jagdevpur, Bhongir, Yadadri, and Chouttuppal, and has posted it to the State government for land acquisition. This corridor's traffic was set at 19,000 vehicles per hour.

J and J Constructions, based in Nagpur, had submitted four alignment options, one of which was chosen by the Ministry-authorized National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

In four districts, approximately 4,000 acres of land are required.

Sangareddy, Medak, Siddipet, and Bhongir will each have a 40 km stretch of road that will pass through 80 to 100 villages. Officers and staff from district-level units are expected to complete the land acquisition in one year. By the end of January, the units will take shape.

The project's alignment did not account for balancing reservoirs of the Kaleshwaram lift-irrigation scheme that might fall on the way, although it was billed as the country's long-awaited regional ring road.

As a result, the northern corridor's initial alignment was scrapped in favour of new proposals that took into account reservoirs, canals, and feeder channels.

Several diversions were taken into account when the alignment was redesigned. The NHAI approved of this.

The cost of land acquisition will be split evenly between the state and federal governments, but the road will be built entirely by the federal government under the Bharat Mala programme.

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