HRDCL gets four major stretches for development.

The Hyderabad Road Development Corporation Ltd. (HRDCL) has been handed over four major stretches of road in the city for development and maintenance of ‘Model Road Corridor’.

The road stretches include the 11 kilometres between Bowenpally and Assembly, 8 kilometres between Afzalgunj and Aaramgarh, 19 kilometres between Miyapur and Assembly, and 14 kilometres between Assembly and L. B. Nagar.

The government has issued an order to this effect, informing that the stretches, earlier part of two national highways, namely, NH 44 and NH 65, have been de-notified by the Central government.

Earlier, Navin Mittal, managing director of the HRDCL and Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD), had written to the Roads and Buildings department, requesting for handing over the four stretches.

The transfer of roads to HRDCL will also result in transfer of the rights of way, income from advertisements, lease from structures above or below the road right of way, cess on property tax, and impact fee from structures within 200 metres of the road. Earlier, the income thereof was pocketed by the GHMC.

The HRDCL was launched in March this year as a special purpose vehicle for evolving a comprehensive road development plan for important roads and to improve coordination with different departments or agencies concerned to ensure planned development.

The Chief Secretary has been the chairman-designate while the principal secretary/secretary of the MAUD is the Managing Director of the new corporation. Principal Secretary/Secretaries of Roads and Buildings, and Finance, apart from GHMC Commissioner, MD, HMWSSB, HMDA Commissioner, Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Managing Director of the TSRTC, CMD of TSSPDCL, and Engineer-in-Chief, Transport R&B are the directors.

In the initial phase, about 240 kilometres of city roads which were under the GHMC have been transferred to the HRDCL. Later, in view of the upcoming Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017, the roads were handed back to the GHMC for sprucing up, as the HRDCL is equipped with neither staff nor infrastructure.

THE HINDU