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Hyderabad: After seven long years of uncertainty, road-widening work on the Hyderabad-Vijayapura (Bijapur) Highway (NH-163) is finally set to begin, following the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) decision on October 31 to vacate the stay orders it had imposed in 2018. Coincidentally, the order became known on a day 19 persons died in a lorry-bus smash near Chevella.The 46-km stretch between TSPA (formerly APPA) Junction and Manneguda via Moinabad and Chevella — considered one of the most accident-prone routes in the country — will soon be expanded into a four-lane highway at a cost of Rs 956 crore. The government has fixed a two-year deadline for completion. Officials believe that once finished, the project will ease traffic congestion and drastically reduce accidents, transforming one of India’s most dangerous roads into a safer, greener corridor.Although the Centre had approved the highway’s upgradation from a state highway to a national highway in 2018 and sanctioned Rs 928 crore in September 2021, the project was stalled after petitions by environmentalists and tree-lovers opposing the felling of nearly 916 old banyan trees that line the route.The NGT then issued a stay, directing the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to conduct a comprehensive study to safeguard the trees.Efforts by the previous BRS government to resolve the issue made little headway. After the Congress government assumed office in December 2023, it reopened discussions with environmental activists to strike a balance between road safety and ecological preservation. The government, however, argued that the expansion was vital to prevent further loss of life, while assuring that every possible measure would be taken to protect the heritage trees.The turning point came in July when the NHAI agreed to alter the original highway design after mediation by Congress MLA from Parigi, T. Ram Mohan Reddy. The compromise plan reduced the number of trees to be translocated from 916 to just 156, while 760 banyans will now be preserved in situ.To achieve this, the NHAI redesigned the median, cutting it down from the earlier proposed five metres to 1.5 metres, and adjusted the road gradients at specific points. The new design also includes service roads on both sides, leaving the trees standing between the main carriageway and the service lanes.As part of the revised plan, branches extending over the roadway will be pruned to ensure visibility and safety, while the 156 banyans that cannot be accommodated will be scientifically translocated along the highway shoulders. Satisfied with the revised environmental design and reduced ecological impact, the NGT vacated its stay on October 31, allowing the long-delayed project to proceed.
