Major portion of work for the railway under bridge (RUB) and storm water drain near Hitec City MMTS Railway Station has been completed during the lockdown between March 20 and May-end.

Narrow underpass

The existing railway underpass is very narrow, as it was built as a pipe culvert for storm water drainage.

Over the time, it has come to be used by vehicles during dry season, and, during rainy season, vehicles are getting stranded on both sides of the underpass owing to heavy flow of water.

The four-lane RUB coupled with RCC box drain under construction is expected to address issues of both flooding and traffic jam, a statement by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation said on Thursday.

Already, the pipe capacity of the existing culvert has been enhanced by laying four rows of 1200mm dia RCC pipes in addition to the two existing rows of 450 mm dia pipes, thereby increasing the carrying capacity of the culvert five times, the note said.

In addition, construction of RCC box drain for a length of 250 metres was completed, it said.

Construction of RCC retaining walls and remodelling of the existing pipe culvert too have been completed during the lockdown, thanks to the road being free from traffic.

Pertaining to the construction of RUB, excavation of approaches, major portion of foundation work and part of the sub-structures have been completed on the Hitec City side.

On the Kukatpally side, integrated structures comprising drain and underpass wall have been completed, and 60% work of excavation has been completed, the note said. A total of ₹59.09 crore has been released under Strategic Road Development Project for both structures, of which ₹24.09 crore has been allocated for RUB works and ₹35 crore for approach roads on both sides, storm water drain and culvert expansion works.

Officials of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Projects wing officials were working in coordination with Railway Engineering wing for the project, the statement said. Recently, Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development K. T. Rama Rao met the officials of the South Central Railway and discussed the speeding up of RUB and ROB works.