The Central government has recently given permission for the southern portion of the circuitous Regional Ring Road (RRR), which was contemplated 60 to 70 km beyond Hyderabad.
While the southern corridor will come up over 182 km, the northern side, which was already permitted by the Centre, will cover 160 km. The land acquisition and other initial stages of work in the north had already started.
Consultant appointed
Giving the permission for south, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has appointed New Delhi-based Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats Limited as consultant for preparation of a detailed project report.
Another Nagpur-based consultancy had earlier prepared the temporary alignment for the prestigious 342-km RRR mooted by the State government and the same was sent to the Centre for approval. The agency was engaged in all tasks till gazette notifications for land acquisition were issued. Eight notifications under the jurisdictional limits of an Additional Collector and eight Revenue Divisional Officers were issued.
The approval for the southern portion had become contentious as the volume of traffic on it was found to be low and the NHAI also did not find the need for an expressway in this corridor. This had raised doubts whether the southern side will be approved at all. It was felt that the project might not end up in a full ring but confined only to the northern side. However, Union Minister for Surface Transport Nitin Gadkari cleared the air during his visit to the city in April.
The preliminary evaluation of the project showed that the northern side might cost ₹9,600 crore. The southern side was expected to cost ₹15,000 crore but a clear picture would emerge only after the DPR was completed in the next two years.
The northern side of the RRR will start from Sangareddy and pass through Narsapur, Toopran, Gajwel, Jagdevpur, Bhongir, Yadagirigutta and end up at Choutuppal to cover 160 km. It was included in Centrally-funded Bharat Mala Pariyojana Project (Phase I). It was temporarily designated as NH 166 AA highway. The preparation of DPR was underway.
The southern portion will also start from Sangareddy but pass through Kandi, Nawabpet, Chevella, Shabad, Shadnagar, Amangal, Marriguda, Sivannaguda, Sansthan Narayanpur and culminate at Choutuppal over 182 kms. This was included in Bharat Mala Project (Phase II).
About 5,000 acres of land was likely to be required for the southern side. The final alignment for the road will be designed by the consultancy in two months. The land requirement for north was fixed at 4,200 acres.
The southern side has predominantly reserve forest and government land. The commercial space and number of inter-changers in the south were fewer compared to north.
