The Telangana government plans to build the longest highway road tunnel in the country, which is expected to run about 10 kilometers from Jubilee Hills Road No 45 Junction to Banjara Hills Road No 12 Junction in Hyderabad.
The proposed four-lane tunnel will meander through the KBR Park junction to the NFCL junction at Panga Ghouta and will be constructed using tunnel boring machines. The state government has decided to build a tunnel for the Strategic Road Development (SRDP) project to help avoid tree felling in KBR Park.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will take up the construction of the proposed tunnel and the civic body is in the process of initiating a feasibility study for it.
Prior to this, the government had proposed six junctions around the KBR Park by constructing multi-level flyovers under the SRDP project, but this required felling of over 1,500 trees. The Union government opined that GHMC should not touch the trees inside the first boundary wall of the park that comes under the ESZ. The trees outside the second boundary wall did not come under the ESZ after which the state instructed officials to explore the possibility of an underground tunnel to avoid the felling of any tree.