Traffic Underpass Beneath Begumpet Airport Runway Soon: Telangana CM
Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said on Monday that an underground traffic tunnel has been constructed under the Begumpet Airport runway for the “first time” in the world to ease vehicle congestion coming to the city from the northern part of the state. Speaking during the Question Hour in the Legislative Council, he said, “We have obtained permission from the Airports Authority of India to construct an underpass beneath the runway at Begumpet Airport. Nowhere else in the world is there an underpass beneath an airport runway. For the first time, we are convinced the central government, and the work is currently in progress,” he said. Begumpet Airport operates on a limited scale but is not available for commercial passenger flights.
He said major metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai suffer from problems like pollution, poor drainage systems and traffic congestion. Hyderabad is in a better position. However, Reddy warned that if corrective measures are not taken now, Hyderabad will face many problems in the future as well.
According to him, the Congress government addressed development by dividing the state into three zones: Core Urban Region Economy (CURE), Peri Urban Region Economy (PURE) and Rural Agricultural Region Economy (RARE). Reddy said that all polluting industries in CURE area will be shifted to PURE area so that people living in the city can have more space.
He said the state government plans to take over Hyderabad Metro Rail from L&T by the end of this month or next month by spending Rs 15,000 million and expanding it by another 76 km. CM said Metro Rail in any city is connected to the local airport. However, this is not the case in Hyderabad, making it necessary to connect it to the airport. According to him, the second phase of the Metro Rail project will cost Rs 24,000 million. Revanth Reddy also said that the central government has given permission for a portion of the proposed 360 km Regional Ring Road.
