Rangareddy: Voters upset over inordinate delay in completion of ROB at Rajendra Nagar

• Local residents express frustration over prolonged road closure, political neglect, ongoing suffering
  
• Proposed ROB delays prompt schoolchildren to risk track passage for school commute
• Shop owners, residents deeply affected by road closure, decry business losses, inconvenience
• GHMC proposed ROB in 2017; slow progress, road blockade causes ongoing distress

Rangareddy: It has been nearly two years since the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) restricted vehicular traffic passage at the Railway halt Uddamgadda in Rajendra Nagar and the reason stated was the construction of a foot-over-bridge (FOB) at the halt. This initiative aimed to address the inconvenience faced by local residents due to frequent day and night halts at the Uddamgadda signal in the Rajendra Nagar area, which is politically represented by AIMIM and BRS

The prolonged delay in project execution has left the local residents infuriated. They are expressing their frustration over the neglect shown by local politicians towards their hardship resulting from the road closure.

“Amidst the enduring hardships and unbearable suffering faced by local residents, traders, and students due to the road’s complete closure two years ago, the local politicians have regrettably failed to provide relief. None of them have taken the issue seriously or ensured the completion of the Road Over Bridge (ROB) at Uddamgadda—a project proposed in 2017, which remains unfinished even after six years,” Mohd Nawaz, a resident of B.K.Puram area.

“The native residents and the local traders besides the school going children are living through an unbearable hardship due to the closure of the road that came into effect in 2021,” said Mohd Akram, another resident.

The excessive delay in completing the proposed ROB might have been avoided if it had commenced on schedule. This delay has compelled schoolchildren to traverse a narrow passage beside the open track barefoot, risking their lives to reach the school located on the other side of the railway halt.

Affirming the same, Ibrahim Khan, a local shop owner said, “The pall of gloom descended over the local traders living close to the halt with the closure of the road. Businesses were bitterly affected as dozens of shops were already closed during these two years. For just five minutes of a straight drive, we have to take a complete circle of almost nine kilometers to reach the same point on the other side of the halt every day.”

“It was in 2017 when the GHMC for the first time proposed a ROB at Uddamgadda railway halt with an estimated cost of Rs.71 crores,” said a senior GHMC official. After eating the dust for almost a year, he further said, the proposal came for a discussion before the civic body again in 2018-19 and following days saw some progress on the ground. The works were grounded three years ago and were moving with a snail pace. The civic body, then, imposed a complete blockade of the road two years ago but failed to complete the project till date,” rued Syed Shoukat Ali, a senior citizen from Shastripuram Colony.

“Numerous mishaps occurred on the track as local residents attempted to navigate the narrow passage, resulting in tragic loss of lives. Despite all grievances falling on deaf ears and representations failing to yield any results, the local community has grown despondent, silently enduring their ongoing suffering,” he added.

“Atleast the road closure should be revoked to alleviate the suffering being faced by the local people, traders and the school going children at the railway halt, said Syed Hashim, another shopkeeper. The GHMC, he said, should expedite the work of road over bridge taking into consideration the sufferings of the local people at

the earliest.