Hyderabad: The state government is actively considering a proposal on bringing a new Act to relocate religious structures existing on roads that were obstructing development and road widening works in municipal corporations and municipalities, MAUD minister K.T. Rama Rao informed the Assembly on Thursday.
Rama Rao was responding to a suggestion made by BRS MLA (LB Nagar) Devireddy Sudheer Reddy during the Question Hour in the House. Sudheer Reddy noted that the Strategic Road Development Programme (SRDP) being executed by the BRS government in the city aided in the smooth flow of traffic and lessened commuters’ traffic woes with the construction of flyovers, underpasses, elevated corridors, RoBs, and RuBs. However, commuters were facing hardships at various locations in the city due to the presence of religious structures. He emphasised the fact that only a few states, like Gujarat, have specific Acts allowing the relocation of religious structures in order to make space for development projects and urged the Telangana government to take this matter seriously.
Rama Rao said the state government will take this into consideration.
The minister slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre for not cooperating with the state government in taking up the SRDP works in defence lands located in Secunderabad.
Referring to traffic problems from Secunderabad to Bowenpally, he said that the state government has made repeated pleas to the Centre in the last eight-and-a-half years to allow it to widen roads and build flyovers, but the Centre simply ignored and not handing over required defence lands for the purpose.
“We want to build a flyover from Patny to Suchitra, similar to the PVNR Expressway. We made representations to the Union defence ministry in this regard. Unfortunately, there has been no response. This is painful and shameful,” Rama Rao said.
Rama Rao informed the House that the state government has submitted representations to successive defence ministers during the last eight years, including Arun Jaitely, Manohar Parrikar, Sushma Swaraj, Nirmala Sitharaman and the incumbent Rajnath Singh, but none responded favourably.
Observing that the defence lands in the city have not been alienated to the defence authorities, Rama Rao said the state government can initiate a legal course of action against the Centre if it wants but it was avoiding it as the state government treats the military with respect as they defend the nation. Explaining the progress of SRDP works in the city, he said around 48 works have been taken up under the GHMC limits, and that 34 works have been completed while 14 were in different stages of completion.
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