'First time' in world underground traffic tunnel being built beneath Begumpet Airport runway: Telangana CM Revanth Reddy

Reddy also said the government will set up a cabinet sub-committee so that opposition members can give their suggestions on the Musi Riverfront development project.

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday said that for the "first time" in the world, an underground traffic tunnel is being constructed beneath the runway of Begumpet Airport here to ease vehicle congestion coming from the northern part of the state into the city.

Speaking during the Question Hour in the Legislative Council, Reddy also said the government will set up a cabinet sub-committee with Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka and Ministers D Sridhar Babu and Ponnam Prabhakar so that opposition members can give their suggestions on the Musi Riverfront development project.

"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 convinced the central government, and the work is currently in progress," he said.

Begumpet Airport is operational on a limited scale but not for commercial passenger flights.

Speaking on the Musi Riverfront Development project, he said the state government is prepared to rehabilitate all the people who will be losing their land or houses.

He said major metropolitan cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai are suffering from problems such as pollution, poor drainage systems, and traffic congestion. Hyderabad is in a better position.

Reddy, however, cautioned that if corrective measures are not taken now, Hyderabad would also face several problems in future.

According to him, the Congress government has taken up development by dividing the state into three regions: Core Urban Region Economy (CURE), Peri Urban Region Economy (PURE) and Rural Agriculture Region Economy (RARE).

Reddy said all the pollutant industries within the CURE area will be shifted to PURE area so that people living in the city will have more space.

He said the state government is planning to takeover Hyderabad Metro Rail from L&T by end of this month or next month by spending 15,000 crore and expand it by another 76 km.

The CM said Metro Rail in any city is connected to the local airport. However, in Hyderabad that is not the case, making it necessary to link it to the aerodrome.

According to him, the second phase of the Metro Rail project would cost Rs 24,000 crore.

The CM said the central government has accorded permission to one part of the proposed 360 km-Regional Ring Road.