Telangana: 340 Km Long Regional Ring Road Project Turning Into A Victim Of Rivalry Between BRS And BJP?

The ambitious Regional Ring Road (RRR) project around Telangana’s capital Hyderabad taken up at a cost of Rs 17,000 crore could be becoming a victim of increasing political rivalry between the ruling parties Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Once again, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav has written a letter to the state chief secretary asking the state government to deposit the committed 50 per cent share of the land acquisition (LA) cost with the centre.

340 Km long expressway around Hyderabad

The 340 km, four-lane access controlled expressway project around Hyderabad, the state capital, was endorsed by the centre in December 2018.

Giving its stamp of approval to the project, specialists of the Central government’s NHAI asked the state government to present a Detailed Project Report (DPR) and, furthermore, urged speedy land acquisition for the project.

The RRR Project has two components namely Northern part and Southern part.

The 158-km northern part will connect Sangareddy, Narsapur, Toopran, Gajwel, Pragnapur, Jagdevpur, Bhongir and Choutuppal. The Rs 7,561 crore project notified by the Ministry as ‘NH 161 AA’ is to be totally funded by the centre.

It was decided that the northern part will be taken up first before the southern part which goes through Choutuppal, Ibrahimpatnam, Kandukur, Amangal, Chevella, Shankarpally and Sangareddy.

What is the issue?

The Regional Ring Road (RRR) project has been included under Bharatmala Phase-I, with undertaking and willingness from the state government of Telangana, for bearing the cost of shifting of obstructing utilities and sharing half of the land acquisition cost.

The Road Transport Ministry is unable to proceed with the issue of notification under Section 3D of the National Highways Act,1956 for acquiring the land for the project without the state government depositing the committed 50 per cent share.

The centre has already approved the alignment and land acquisition plan and has asked the state government many times to come up with a firm proposal and proper mechanism to deposit 50 per cent share of LA cost, so that Section 3D notification could be taken up.

For the northern part of RRR, it was estimated that around two thousand hectares of land must be acquired. NHAI estimated that Rs 5,170 crore must be paid to the land owners to complete the LA process.

Among the LA costs, Rs 2,585 crore must be paid by the state government in addition to Rs 363 crore which must be paid by CM KCR’s government to shift obstructing utilities like transmission lines etc, reports Telugu news daily Sakshi.

With no response from the state government, there is an increasing worry about cost escalation and time delays of the RRR project.

RRR in the middle of politics between BJP and BRS?

Mega infrastructure projects are often showcased as an achievement by political parties to win the elections.

Moreover, a road project like the 340 km long Regional Ring Road which covers 40 per cent of Telangana population and links 20 towns with the national highways can be touted by the BJP as its achievement.

This could be the reason for non responsiveness regarding RRR by the BRS government in the state.

If CM KCR does not dissolve the assembly and go for early elections, the 119 member strong Telangana assembly is scheduled for elections in November or December of this year.

By securing four MP seats in 2019 elections, greatly improving in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections and winning two by elections after 2018, BJP is going aggressive in its efforts to win the 2023 assembly elections of Telangana.

RRR was proposed and endorsed by both the governments in 2018 when BJP is not a force to reckon with in Telangana.

In 2022, BJP launched ‘mission 90’ to win 90 seats in Telangana assembly where the magic mark is just 60.

BJP, which has already emerged as the main opposition on ground to the ruling BRS, also launched 11,000 street corner meetings across the state.

Thus, BRS president and Telangana CM KCR may have decided to delay the execution of RRR project till this year’s assembly elections and this could be the reason for non responsiveness of the state government regarding the share of land acquisition cost even after the repeated reminders from the centre.