Title - Hi-Tec City Rail Over-Bridge will be ready by August: Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority

HYDERABAD: After failing to meet several deadlines for completion of the Rail Over-Bridge (RoB) between Hi-Tec City railway station and Kukatpally, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) now says that it will have the bridge ready by August 2012.As with several other projects in the city, the Hi-Tec City-Kukatpally RoB has been plagued by problems such as delay in clearances from South Central Railway (since a portion of the bridge crosses the railway track at Hi-Tec City railway station), escalation in project cost, revised administrative sanctions and funds crunch.However, after SCR finally accorded clearance in January, the HMDA metropolitan commissioner gave the authorities four months' time to complete the project. But with this deadline looming, HMDA officials have now wrangled a new one - August 2012.The 910 metre-long RoB starts at Kukatpally Housing Board Phase IV and, after crossing Cyber Towers, ends at Hi-Tec City railway station on the spinal road. Once ready, the RoB will not only ease congestion on the busy road, but also reduce travel time for those travelling to Cyber Towers.For example, the RoB will cut the distance between Mehdipatnam and Kukatpally by as much as 7km. With traffic congestion on the Miyapur-Kukatpally stretch due to the Hyderabad Metro Rail works causing no small inconvenience to commuters, the RoB can prove to be a great boon for those who need to travel to this part of the city.The RoB was conceived to ease the pressure of increasing traffic around Hi-Tec City. After HMDA cleared the proposal in 2006, construction began in March 2007 with delivery slated to have been done by August 2008. But then started the series of delays beginning with one that lasted four months. That delay saw the cost of the RoB shoot up to Rs 47 crore from Rs 24.38 crore.This reappraisal triggered another delay as HMDA had to obtain a revised sanction for the RoB from the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) department.But the primary cause behind the delay remains the objections raised by SCR over the drawings and decision on the height of the bridge, which took almost an year to be resolved. Finally, the revised blueprint was cleared by SCR in the third week of January. Thereafter, it has been the shifting of utilities like water and sewers that has taken up more time than it should have.Now, HMDA is promising completion by August. "The bridge, except the railway portion, which is about 120 metres, is almost ready. The RoB will be ready by August this year," HMDA chief engineer V Madhwaraja told TOI.