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ORR Diversion to Skirt Around Problems of Land Acquisition

  • About 55 acres of land belonging to farmers, which had been earmarked for acquisition for the Outer Ring Road (ORR) at Kandlakoya village, has been caught up in legal wrangles forcing the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) to opt for opening the project to the public by diverting the road temporarily before Kandlakoya junction.The HMDA has sought permission from chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy for the stopgap arrangement. Sources said that the chief minister reportedly approves of the temporary arrangement. Work on the diversion is likely to be completed by March 2012.

  • Officials said acquisition of about 55 acres from farmers of Kandlakoya village is sub-judice in Supreme Court and that may hold up the ORR project. The ORR works between Patancheru and Shameerpet is progressing at a brisk pace on either side of Kandlakoya."The authority is planning to make a diversion on an existing two-lane road and connect NH 7, which will again connect the ORR beyond Kandlakoya.As a result of the temporary diversion, the length of the road will increase by 3 km. That, however, would reduce traffic congestion on the Kukatpally-Balanagar road by a large extent," ORR chief general manager N Surya Prakash Reddy told TOI.

  • After completing phase-I and phase-II a few months ago, the HMDA is now planning to complete a part of phase-II-B of the ORR by this year end .The Patancheru-Pedda Amberpet stretch, part of phase-II-B, has been divided into six segments and work is being taken up with funding from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).Officials said that in total three packages between Patancheru and Shameerpet (38 km, 1st package) Patancheru to Mallampet (11 km) and another stretch Mallampet to Dundigal (11.3 km) had work beginning on them in June 2009 and were supposed to be ready by January 2012.

  • But that got delayed due to legal tussle over a plot in Mallampet. HMDA officials are hoping that the issue is resolved soon.The third package from Dundigal to Shamirpet (15.7 km), too, is mired in land acquisition problems and may take several months to resolve.Since, Kandlakoya aside, interchange works are pending on the Patancheru-Shameerpet connector, plans are afoot to construct a diversion and open the ORR to the public by the end of March 2012.

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