<p>Chevella (Ranga Reddy dist.): The widening of National Highway 163 between Moinabad in Ranga Reddy district and Manneguda in Vikarabad district — the same stretch where Monday’s tragic mishap claimed 19 lives — has been pending for years due to cases filed by environmentalists before the NGT against felling around 900 banyan trees along the route.</p><p>The NGT had only recently cleared the widening project with minor design alterations. The road where the mishap occurred remains a single-lane highway.</p><p>In November 2021, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways sanctioned the expansion of a 46-km stretch of the Hyderabad–Vikarabad–Karnataka National Highway (NH-163) into a four-lane road between the Hyderabad Outer Ring Road and Manneguda in Vikarabad district. The project had remained stalled for several years.</p>.19 killed, several injured as tipper lorry collides with RTC bus in Telangana.<p>NH-163, originating at Bhoopalapatnam in Chhattisgarh, runs through Warangal, Hyderabad, Moinabad, Chevella, Manneguda, and Kodangal before terminating at Ravulapalli on the Telangana–Karnataka border. It is among the busiest interstate routes.</p><p>A tender notification was issued on September 9, 2021, inviting expressions of interest from contractors under the Design, Build, Operate and Transfer (DBOT) model.</p><p>However, the move triggered protests from environmentalists and nature enthusiasts, who formed the civil society group “Save Banyans of Chevella,” expressing fears that the expansion could endanger more than 9,000 trees, including roughly 1,100 century-old banyans.</p><p>They petitioned the NGT to halt the project and direct the NHAI to explore alternate routes, seeking environmental clearance under Section 7(f) of the EIA Notification, 2006.</p><p>NHAI maintained that the expansion was crucial, given that the Hyderabad–Manneguda stretch is highly accident-prone due to dense vehicular traffic.</p><p>On Monday, locals also raised slogans demanding highway widening when local MLA Yadaiah visited the accident site.</p><p>“It has unfortunately become a habit for the opposition to politicise every issue. Even amid such a tragic accident, turning it into a political controversy is neither appropriate nor ethical. I leave it to the people’s judgment. There has been no negligence on the State Government’s part regarding the road expansion. Certain individuals approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT), delaying the works for months. Despite knowing this, they are now blaming the government deliberately. The State placed its arguments effectively before the Tribunal, and as a result, the NGT recently delivered a favorable verdict. We have now begun the widening works and commit to completing them within 18 months to make the road accessible to the public,” said Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu, who visited the site on Monday afternoon.</p><p>The road stretch between Chevella and Vikarabad has been pothole-laden, inconveniencing the commuters. The road has been accident prone. </p>
<p>Chevella (Ranga Reddy dist.): The widening of National Highway 163 between Moinabad in Ranga Reddy district and Manneguda in Vikarabad district — the same stretch where Monday’s tragic mishap claimed 19 lives — has been pending for years due to cases filed by environmentalists before the NGT against felling around 900 banyan trees along the route.</p><p>The NGT had only recently cleared the widening project with minor design alterations. The road where the mishap occurred remains a single-lane highway.</p><p>In November 2021, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways sanctioned the expansion of a 46-km stretch of the Hyderabad–Vikarabad–Karnataka National Highway (NH-163) into a four-lane road between the Hyderabad Outer Ring Road and Manneguda in Vikarabad district. The project had remained stalled for several years.</p>.19 killed, several injured as tipper lorry collides with RTC bus in Telangana.<p>NH-163, originating at Bhoopalapatnam in Chhattisgarh, runs through Warangal, Hyderabad, Moinabad, Chevella, Manneguda, and Kodangal before terminating at Ravulapalli on the Telangana–Karnataka border. It is among the busiest interstate routes.</p><p>A tender notification was issued on September 9, 2021, inviting expressions of interest from contractors under the Design, Build, Operate and Transfer (DBOT) model.</p><p>However, the move triggered protests from environmentalists and nature enthusiasts, who formed the civil society group “Save Banyans of Chevella,” expressing fears that the expansion could endanger more than 9,000 trees, including roughly 1,100 century-old banyans.</p><p>They petitioned the NGT to halt the project and direct the NHAI to explore alternate routes, seeking environmental clearance under Section 7(f) of the EIA Notification, 2006.</p><p>NHAI maintained that the expansion was crucial, given that the Hyderabad–Manneguda stretch is highly accident-prone due to dense vehicular traffic.</p><p>On Monday, locals also raised slogans demanding highway widening when local MLA Yadaiah visited the accident site.</p><p>“It has unfortunately become a habit for the opposition to politicise every issue. Even amid such a tragic accident, turning it into a political controversy is neither appropriate nor ethical. I leave it to the people’s judgment. There has been no negligence on the State Government’s part regarding the road expansion. Certain individuals approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT), delaying the works for months. Despite knowing this, they are now blaming the government deliberately. The State placed its arguments effectively before the Tribunal, and as a result, the NGT recently delivered a favorable verdict. We have now begun the widening works and commit to completing them within 18 months to make the road accessible to the public,” said Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu, who visited the site on Monday afternoon.</p><p>The road stretch between Chevella and Vikarabad has been pothole-laden, inconveniencing the commuters. The road has been accident prone. </p>