Title - CM to open bridge today

Traffic snarls on the ever-busy Lakdikapul stretch will be a thing of the past with the inauguration of the new Road over Bridge (RoB) by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday. This bridge, built jointly by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the South Central Railway (SCR) with a budget of Rs. 24.75 crore, will be thrown open for public use from 11 am.

The new bridge, constructed parallel to the existing one, will ensure smooth ride for commuters even during peak hours because traffic towards Masab Tank and Khairatabad would be divided on these two bridges.

The railway authorities completed the bridge portion on the rail track with 125-metre length and 11 metre width, for which the civic body paid an amount of Rs 9.14 crore to SCR.

Meanwhile the civic body spent Rs.2.61 crore for construction of ramps and approach roads on both sides of the bridge, besides Rs 3.5 crore for acquisition of various properties to facilitate the construction of the bridge.

Likewise, Rs 8.10 crore was used for acquisition of properties and shifting of utilities towards Masab Tank for formation of road in continuation of the RoB, while Rs.1.4 crore was spent for construction of footpaths and drain.

The construction of the parallel bridge was proposed five years ago, as the existing bridge is very narrow and traffic gets choked during peak hours. However, the civil works began only in July 2011 and were supposed to be completed by October 2011. Due to delays in land acquisition and some legal issues, besides shifting of water pipelines and road extension, the works were stalled on many occasions.