Hyderabad –Vijayawada NH to be upgraded to six lanes; north, south RRR to be one entity

Hyderabad: Chief Minister Revanth Reddy asked the district collectors to act humanely while acquiring land for national highways.

The officials have been asked to pay compensation, as per the rules, to the farmers whose lands have been acquired for national highways.

The Chief Minister held a review meeting to discuss the issues faced by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in the construction of roads in Telangana.

The CM questioned the officials for the delay in the land acquisition despite the government extending all cooperation. The Collectors informed the CM that farmers are not willing to give up their lands given variations in the prices. They said the market value of the land is high whereas the registration prices are low.

The Chief Minister said the farmers were not ready to lose their lands since they owned it for generations. The collectors have been advised to hold a meeting with farmers and convince them of land acquisition.

The Chief Minister said Union Minister for Road Transport and National Highways Nitin Gadkari agreed in principle to consider the southern part of the Regional Ring Road (RRR) and the northern part as one and assign a single number to both.

The officials have been asked to take the necessary steps towards entering a tripartite agreement between the state government, Union government, and NHAI and complete it immediately.

Revanth Reddy inquired about the obstacles in land acquisition in the northern part of RRR. Yadadri Bhuvanagiri Collector Hanmanth K. Zendage said that some farmers approached the court due to a mistake in the alignment issue. He said the court has granted a stay.

The Chief Minister ordered the Collector to file a counter to vacate the stay by Friday. The Chief Minister inquired about the status of land acquisition on the Nagpur-Vijayawada corridor in Khammam district.

Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, who participated via video link from Khammam, said that the proposed road passes through the costly lands near Khammam and the farmers will be convinced about the compensation. The minister also said that the NHAI proposal to convert the national highway from Khammam to Ashwaraopet into a state highway should not be accepted as the work on Tallada-Devarapalli green field road is already in progress.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka appealed to the NHAI officials to construct service roads at the big villages and also underpasses at necessary places so that the farmers will go to their fields on the road which is being constructed as part of the Nagpur-Vijayawada corridor.

In response, NHAI project member Anil Chaudhary said the highway authority will look into the issue raised by Deputy CM. The meeting also discussed the proposal to build gravel roads along the national highways for the use of agricultural vehicles and farmers. The NHAI project member said that this matter will be taken into consideration. The CM opined that the construction of gravel roads will be useful for farmers and there will be no problems in road expansion in the future.

Officials asked to coordinate

The issue of the transfer of forest lands to develop Armoor-Jagityal-Mancherial and Vijayawada-Nagpur corridor roads came for discussion. The chief minister asked the Collectors of Nizamabad, Manchiryala, and Mahabubabad districts to allocate government lands as compensation for the forest lands. State Revenue and Forest Departments are advised to coordinate with each other in the transfer of lands. The Chief Minister suggested that the forest department should take the government lands instead of the lands acquired for the construction of roads.

The Chief Minister suggested that the payments related to the removal of utilities under the purview of various departments should be expedited. If there are any problems, the officials of the concerned departments should coordinate with the NHAI and move forward.

The CM ordered the authorities to start the Hyderabad-Manneguda road works and the NHAI officials agreed.

Hyderabad-Vijayawada NH work to start in two months

State Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy asked NHAI project member Anil Chaudhary to start the work immediately as the land acquisition for the expansion of six lanes of Hyderabad-Vijayawada National Highway has already been completed. The NHAI officials said that the work will be started in two months.

Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, Chief Minister Principal Secretary to CM Seshadri, CM Secretaries Manik Raj, Chandrasekhar Reddy, Shanawaz Qasim, Infrastructure Advisor Srinivasa Raju, NHAI Regional Officer Razak, PCCF Dobriyal, R&B Special Secretary Dasari Harichandana, Joint Secretary Harish, Medak, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Sangareddy, Manchiryala, Peddapalli, Jayashankar Bhupalapalli, Hanumakonda, Warangal, Mahabubabad, Khammam, Nizamabad Collectors and others participated.

In a review of road projects, the Chief Minister made several key decisions from the farmers perspective.

• Collectors should think from a humanitarian perspective on land acquisition.

• Ensure fairness to farmers who have relied on the land for generations.

• Do not compromise on compensation.

• Collectors should talk directly with farmers.

Specific directives included:

• Expedite land acquisition for the Vijayawada-Nagpur corridor.

• Commence work on the Hyderabad-Manneguda road soon.

• Begin the Hyderabad-Vijayawada six-lane road widening project within two months.