Hurdles for declaring 182-km-long southern section of the Regional Ring Road (RRR) in Telangana as a national highway have been cleared.
After Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy met Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi on Tuesday to make a request, the latter instructed the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials to prepare the proposals to declare the southern section of RRR as a national highway.
The southern section runs from Chautuppal to Sangareddy via Amangal and Shadnagar. The northern part was already declared part of the national highways.
According to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), apart from the RRR issue, Revanth Reddy appealed to Gadkari to grant permission for the expansion of national highways in Telangana and to upgrade several important state highways to national highways. The Chief Minister handed over the list of state roads which are to be expanded as national highways in the state to the Union Minister and explained the importance of declaring those roads as national highways.
The CM and the Union Minister discussed the dispute between the Centre and state government regarding the removal of utilities (electricity poles, buildings etc.) in the limits of RRR’s northern part covering Chautuppal-Bhuvangiri-Toophran-Sangareddy-Kandi.
Last month, NHAI officials suggested that the cost of relocation of utilities should be borne by the state government. As the state government did not agree to the NHAI’s condition, a standoff continued on this issue.
After assuming charge as CM, Revanth Reddy sent a letter to the NHAI agreeing to bear the cost of relocation of utilities.
The Chief Minister mentioned the issue before Gadkari in the meeting and the latter enquired about the issue with NHAI officials and expressed his anger for asking the state government to bear the cost. He assured that the Centre will bear the cost of relocation of utilities.
The Union Minister told the Chief Minister to speed up the land acquisition and procedural processes related to the construction of the RRR.
Revanth Reddy also requested the Union Minister to approve the proposal to widen the national highway from Hyderabad to Vijayawada to six lanes and the road from Hyderabad to Kalwakurthy as four lanes. Gadkari responded positively to the CM’s appeal.