Hyderabad: On Monday, locals from the Secunderabad Cantonment area and property owners along the Rajiv Rahadari road held a rally. They were protesting against the State government’s decision to widen the Rajiv Rahadari road to 200 feet as part of a plan for a new elevated corridor project.
The protest march started at the Secunderabad Club and ended at the Trimulgherry Crossroads. The protesters argued that many major areas in Hyderabad, such as Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills, Kondapur, Madhapur, Gachibowli, Himayatnagar, Begumpet, Abids, Nampally, and Hi-Tech City, function well with 100-foot roads. These areas also have additional infrastructure like metro lines and flyovers. Because of this, they felt that expanding the Rajiv Rahadari road to 200 feet, especially from Gymkhana Ground to Tumkunta, was unnecessary and unreasonable.
They pointed out that, in some sections, the road is only 80 feet wide, such as before and after the Gymkhana Ground. They asked the government to similarly reduce the expansion in other parts of the Rajiv Rahadari stretch to protect property owners and businesses.
Telukunta Satish Gupta, the convener of the Rajiv Rahadari Property Owners’ Joint Action Committee (JAC), expressed concern about the impact on people’s homes and livelihoods. He questioned why the government was planning a 200-foot expansion for this road when other major highways, like NH-44, do not have the same requirement. He also mentioned that the government had previously reduced road widening on Uppal main road from 200 feet to 150 feet and suggested that a similar reduction should be considered for Rajiv Rahadari. He stressed that a 100-foot-wide road is enough for the necessary development, including flyovers.
Some locals emphasized that they were not against development. However, they urged the government to take into account the livelihoods and interests of the thousands of people whose properties and businesses would be affected by the road widening. They suggested that the government should review the plan to find a balance between development and the well-being of residents and businesses.
