₹398 crore flyover project to ease east-west traffic congestion in Mehdipatnam

The east-west traffic choke point at Masab Tank, Rethi Bowli and Nanal Nagar is likely to ease off as the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has set in motion the construction a multi-level flyover.

The ₹398-crore multi-level flyover/grade separators at Rethi Bowli and Nanal Nagar Junction will be executed under the under Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC)/Turnkey Basis.

The tender document shows that the first level will be between Mehdipatnam and Toli Chowki and the second level between Langar Houz and Mehdipatnam.

The flyover project in the area comes exactly 20 years after the conceptualisation of the PVNR Expressway that was completed in 2009 under a Congress government.

While the expressway speeded up the connectivity between Mehdipatnam and the Airport-ORR stretch, the road under it has become congested with shops and fruit vendors occupying the carriageway and pedestrian spaces. The Rythu Bazaar, Rethibowli, Nanal Nagar stretch is a notorious choke point with the road width shrinking to just about 35 feet with the newest addition of pillars for the unfinished Mehdipatnam Skywalk.

The proposed flyover from Mehdipatnam to Tolichowki is a three lane uni-directional 1st level flyover with a width of 12.50m. The flyover from Langar Houz towards Mehdipatnam is again a two-lane uni-directrional one with a connecting arm from Attapur merging after crossing the Rethibowli junction.

“This issue was also raised in the Telangana Legislative Assembly by AIMIM Floor Leader Akbaruddin Owaisi Sahab, ensuring government attention towards resolving the long-pending traffic congestion,” wrote Toli Chowki MLA Kausar Mohiuddin on X about the proposed flyover.

However, not everyone is convinced whether the flyovers will reduce the congestion in the area. “I say it will only move the traffic bottleneck from one place to another rather than solving it. Also, from the draft plans that we see on the internet, there’s no provision for a metro line in the future (BHEL- Lakdikapul). The metro itself would solve the traffic congestion,” says architect Sibghat Khan who has an office in the area. “The Langar Houz road is very narrow and it will be expensive to widen it,” he said.

The current congestion in the east-west direction is also likely to change as the newer real estate projects in the Narsingi, Neopolis and Gandipet area have taken off in a big way. The access to that part of the city is also linked to the traffic management at the key junction.