In the coming months, commuters from Balanagar will find navigating Bowenpally a tad easier as the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) is widening the road to facilitate smooth traffic flow.
SCB took up demolition of properties on two stretches – Bowenpally-Secunderabad and Bowenpally-Medchal, last week. Nearly 15 properties have been demolished and more are set for removal in the coming days before road-laying works begin.
The plan is to make the stretches up to 500 metres from the crossroads, wider by 30 feet. The traffic police have also drawn up plans for locating dividers and traffic movement post widening.
Road-widening work on the Bowenpally-Secunderabad stretch is currently happening on the Gulf Bakery side. Some portion of the bakery has also been demolished. Officials said the opposite side is not being touched as graveyard and religious structures exist. The stretch is being widened from only one side. Locals who lost their buildings in the ongoing works are not happy.
“We are not being intimated nor are we being compensated for the buildings which are demolished. The demolitions are happening in a high-handed manner,” claimed employees at a chicken shop in the area. They further said officials made markings without letting them know what the extent of loss could be.
Officials maintained that most of the area where properties are being removed belongs to the cantonment board as these are classified as ‘C’ lands.
“We are not required to issue notices or compensate for demolitions as the buildings are encroachments. Only in the case of two private properties, the owners have volunteered to have some part of their property demolished,” said Assistant Engineering B. Balakrishna, who is overseeing the road-widening works. The official said works could be completed in a month’s time.
Nearly 15 properties have been demolished and more are set for removal in the coming days before road-laying works begin
