Partial dismantling of cycle track roof in Hyderabad sparks furore on social media

A furore erupted on social media over the removal of the solar-roofed bicycle track laid along the service road of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) between Nanakramguda and Kollur, on Tuesday.

A video clip of the solar panels being dismantled near Nanakramguda was circulated widely, with netizens expressing bewilderment over the action, which was construed to be a political decision by the Congress government to undo the work of the then Bharat Rashtra Samithi government which had implemented the project. Several people expressed shock and displeasure at this step.

“How on earth one would destroy a cycling track with solar roof?? Where are the environmentalists? What does this govt want to convey? What next ..? Cutting down all the trees around ORR planted by KCR and removing the lights on ORR??” posted one Uday Koppolu on social media platform X.

“Is the Telangana Congress Government destroying India’s first Solar Roof Cycle Track? I was shocked to see this video showing the partial removal of the cycling track along the ORR. Is this yet another attempt by Revanth Reddy to erase KCR’s legacy? Why this madness? Why destroy such a valuable piece of public infrastructure for political vendetta?” questioned Dileep Konatham, a BRS functionary, while describing the 23-kilometre solar roofed cycle track as the brainchild of the erstwhile IT & Municipal Administration Minister and BRS lead K.T.Rama Rao and the second of its kind in the world which enabled eco-friendly transportation and harnesses solar energy.

The cycling track was laid in two stretches with a break, from Nanakramguda to Telangana State Police Academy, and from Narsingi to Kollur, and inaugurated in October last year by Mr. Rama Rao. It was designed to produce 16 megawatts of solar power.

Responding to the outcry, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, through a statement, informed that only the shade over the cycle track was removed to make way for a ramp which was scheduled to be constructed in view of the traffic slowdown near the Nanakramguda interchange.

The new ramp has been designed with total length of 120 metres and since it is crossing cycle track in skew, about 80 metres of the roof has been removed, it said.

The cycle track will be continued by providing at-grade crossing similar to other crossings along the track at Nanakramguda up-ramp, Narsingi up-ramp, vehicle underpasses, and passenger underpasses after taking all necessary precautions such as bollards, blinkers and speed calming measures on the ramp.

The decision to construct the ramp was taken upon a proposal from the Traffic Police, as Nanakramguda rotary was getting grid-locked during peak traffic hours. A large number of commuters are proceeding towards locations such as IT corridor, Financial District, Serilingampally, Gachibowli, Raidurgam, IKEA, Madhapur from Narsingi and Puppalguda, via Nanakramguda rotary.

The down ramp proposed would partly address the issue by allowing the commuters bound for Nanakramguda to descend ahead of the rotary, Metropolitan Commissioner Sarfaraz Ahmed informed.

Published - December 17, 2024 11:55 pm IST