Work on Mehdipatnam skywalk begins

HYDERABAD: With the Local Military Authority (LMA) extending cooperation to the State government, work has begun on the swanky Mehdipatnam junction  Skywalk project with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority  (HMDA) dismantling the bus cargo shelters and public toilets to make way for HOP station points, lifts and staircases. 

The skywalk abuts the  PV Narasimha Rao Expressway with Military Garrison on one side and malls and commercial buildings on the other side. The skywalk has an overall travel length of about 390 metres including above-ground retail activity. 

Of the 390 metres walkway, there will be a pedestrian walkway from Mehdipatnam bus depot to the defence boundary (50 metres)  and two intermediate tunnel walk lengths to the Rythu Bazar and  Asifnagar Police Station (160 metres) and to Mallepally Road (180  metres). The height of the skyway would be 6.15 metres (3.4 metres steps) and it would be 4 metres wide. 

Each of the five accessways has been planned with a staircase, apart from elevators for 36  passengers capacity at two locations, and six lifts of 162 passengers capacity at three locations. An elevator chair setting too is proposed for the physically challenged. The arch suspended cables would support the skywalk structurally, aesthetically and will also cater as a  gateway to the airport commuters/passengers on the PVNR Expressway. 

Official sources told Express that the vertical connectivity towards the skywalk is introduced through a glass enclosure (modules) consisting of a  staircase and elevators. It is proposed at 6.15 metres level to provide sufficient clearance for vehicle movement below as per IRC standards. It is envisaged that after the completion of the skywalk, vehicular flow will significantly improve and pedestrians will have a comfortable option to move from one side of the Expressway to the other. 

The design considers the local roads to Asifnagar and Gudimalkapur as well,  with the aim being to provide pedestrian connectivity from the military  area side towards the commercial and residential areas that exist near  the local roads. 

As on date, all of the 13 foundations and columns on Asifnagar side, 11 of the 12 foundations at ground level on Rythu  Bazar side and 11 of the 13 foundations in commercial areas have been completed. The project is being taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 33  crore with the agency having the option of operating and maintaining it  for two years.

LMA supports 
The skywalk abuts the  PV Narasimha Rao Expressway with Military Garrison on one side and  malls and commercial buildings on the other side 
Each of the five access ways  has been planned with a staircase, apart from elevators for 36  passengers capacity at two locations, and six lifts of 162 passengers  capacity at three locations
The project will cost nearly Rs 33 crore