Not so long ago, there was a time when traveling from one place to another in twin cities was a huge issue due to traffic snarls at various signal points. However, the state government and bureaucracy implementing the strategic road development plan (SRDP) have changed the way people travel in the capital city.The government initiatives to boost road infrastructure and address long-pending traffic problems are now showing results. Among the many initiatives that changed the face of Hyderabad, SRDP can be considered an important one.The state government formulated SRDP a few years back for improving basic amenities in Hyderabad, safe driving and improving traffic monitoring facilities, minimizing travel time, increasing journey speed, and reducing air pollution levels. The idea is to reduce traffic woes and create the necessary infrastructure for future traffic needs.Also, the main roads have been restored under the comprehensive road maintenance program (CRMP), and new link roads have been developed. Post-SRDP by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), it can be seen that the city roads have undergone a lot of change. Apart from the cable-stayed bridge at Madhapur, the authorities have constructed 22 flyovers, underpasses, RoBs, and RuBs in different parts of the city.For the unversed, SRDP was intended to cover major corridors and activity centers such as Jubilee Hills, HITEC City, Kukatpally, Panjagutta, Abids, Bachupally, Charminar, LB Nagar, Chandrayanagutta, Secunderabad, Uppal, ECIL, Alwal, Kompally, and Jeedimetla.

City Takes Huge Strides in Infrastructure Development Drive

Union Government has extended GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited’s (GHIAL) term of the concession agreement for a further 30 years. The Group can now run the airport till 2068. The new agreement term will be in force from March 23, 2038, to March 22, 2068, according to a regulatory filing of the GMR Group.The Hyderabad Airport is India’s first greenfield airport built under a public-private partnership model. The airport started with an initial capacity of 1.2 Crore passengers per annum and went up to 2.1 Crore in 2019 but the pandemic played a spoilsport. The airport is currently undergoing a major expansion that will raise its capacity to 3.4 crore passengers per annum.&nbsp;The airport’s master plan envisages an ultimate capacity of over 10 crore passengers per annum and GMR Group will use this extension to reach that capacity. The airport is also the largest private airport operator in Asia and the second largest in the world with a passenger handling capacity of over 18.9 crores annually.

GMR Group To Run Hyderabad Airport For Another 30 Years

KPHB police on Tuesday arrested a thief who had robbed a silver jewelry shop at Forum Mall, which is always under surveillance. He successfully hoodwinked the security and managed to rob the shop. Kukatpally ACP Chandrasekhar revealed the details to the media after arresting the accused.&nbsp;Majid Khan from Nampally had previously worked as a salesman in a clothing store in Forum Mall. On the 30th of last month, he went into the mall and entered a shop on the second floor, and left with a bag of silver jewelry. Ramakrishna, the store in charge who came to the shop in the morning, found out about the theft and lodged a complaint with the police.&nbsp;After examining the footage of the shop and the mall, the police have got some clues. Majid Khan, who appeared suspiciously on KPHB Road No. 1 on Tuesday, was arrested and interrogated by the police. The accused admitted to the crime. Police said 6.5 kg of silver jewelry worth Rs 7.80 lakh was seized from him and he was sent behind the bars.

Robbery In Forum Mail, Accused Arrested

Heavy rain accompanied by thunder, lightning, and gusts of winds lashed many parts of the city on Wednesday morning. Heavy rains lashed Khairatabad, Ameerpet, Secunderabad, Maredpally, Bowenpally, Miyapur, Nizampet, Rajendranagar, Pedda Amberpet, Abdullapurmet, Budwel, Shivarampally, Kushaiguda, ECIL, Kapra, Jagadgirigutta, Kukatpally, Cantonment, Malkajgiri, and Musheerabad areas.&nbsp;As a result, the city's roads are flooded. Many colonies were inundated. The power supply was cut off in several parts of Hyderabad city due to heavy rains with gusts of wind. Power cuts were reported in Jubilee Hills, Yusufguda, Ameerpet, Malakpet, Dilsukhnagar, Chaitanyapuri, Kothapet, LB Nagar, and Vanasthalipuram. Heavy rains lashed Panjagutta junction. The water reached knee-deep at the intersection of Khairatabad and Banjara Hills.Trees fell on the road at State Home on the way from Yousufguda to Maitrivanam. This has caused severe disruption to traffic. The sudden rains have cooled down the city and brought some respite to the city folks who are suffering from an unprecedented heatwave for the last few days. However, the scenes witnessed in the city due to the rain are causing citizens to worry. The ordeals underline how GHMC is totally unprepared for the upcoming monsoon season.

Heavy Rains Bring Flooded Roads, Traffic Snarls, and Power Cuts

Recently, there was a sad incident of a person committing suicide at Durgam Cheruvu, and added to that, there have been incidents of racing on the suspension bridge apart from other incidents. Acting swiftly, Cyberabad police have started patrolling activities at Durgam Cheruvu. Cameras have been installed to make sure unwanted incidents don’t take place in the area.Apart from surveillance cameras, electric bike patrolling and lake patrolling boats have also been put up. The entire activity is being done as a part of a public-private partnership, and Raheja Group and other IT companies are supporting the initiative to increase security in the area.DGP M Mahender Reddy shares that Cyberabad police are at the forefront when it comes to providing security to people. He says Hi-Tec city and Financial District need to have a safe environment as many companies from other states and abroad make their investments here.The surveillance cameras and other patrolling mechanisms will not only stop trouble mongers and criminals, but they will also help prevent suicides, says Mahender Reddy. She Teams will also be deployed to make sure women working in the IT industry have a safe environment.All teams will be trained to be alert, respond quickly, and have good lifesaving skills.

Cameras Installed at Durgam Cheruvu To Prevent Unwanted Incidents

The times are tough, and religion is being used to spew hatred among people. However, on the flip side, there are situations that show the oneness of humanity and the common bond of love that strings together people of all faiths.One such story is that of a dargah and Sai Baba temple in Chaderghat. Both of them share a common wall, and for years, people have been visiting both places with utmost harmony. At the same time, the devotees of Baba throng the temple, devotees to the dargah queue up in lines.There are many occasions during which the devotees of Baba go to dargah for a mannat, and devotees from dargah visit Baba for blessings. The two religious places symbolize the ganga jamuni tehzeeb of Hyderabad city, and the religious heads of both these places say that the camaraderie has been the same for generations.The temple priest says the dargah has been around for about 80 years and adds that they all celebrate festivals together and are family friends to each other. And this year, an iftar was organized in the temple to showcase their friendship.Mushir Khan, the founder of Freedom Again Foundation, organized the iftar and says he was very happy to see the harmony among people.

Hyd Sets An Example of Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb and Tolerance

Susheel Kumar Gotla happens to be an artist. But that would be an improper introduction of him as he has had the luck to meet the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Tushar Gandhi, at his residence in Mumbai.Incidentally, it was not a dream of Susheel Kumar to make a sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi. But he is into contemporary Indian art and sculptures and considers himself to be an expressionist. Susheel’s desktop figurative sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi impressed Tushar Gandhi, who then arranged a meeting with the artist at his Mumbai residence.Susheel fondly talks of the time spent with Tushar and shares they spoke for about one and half hours about Bapu, Kasturba, and their contribution to the country. He says Tushar added his sculpture to his collection of Gandhi sculptures. Susheel also gifted Tushar a Khadi kurta and says that he was rather overwhelmed by the latter’s humbleness and being in the Gandhi household.Susheel Kumar took to art as a hobby when he was around 8 years old. However, it was in his late 30s that he did a short course at the Jawaharlal Nehru University of Fine Arts, on the insistence of his sister. Susheel says he is an artistic streak that is innate and adds that he crafts whatever comes to his mind at that point in time.He honed his skill during the pandemic as he had lots of free time and now wants to take to art seriously.

An Artist’s Journey into the Gandhi Household

As many may not be aware, Sukumar Das is a Telangana-based entrepreneur who introduced adventure sports like paragliding and paramotoring in Hyderabad. Now, he is all set to tickle people's taste buds in Hyderabad and around the city.His latest initiative will be an extension of his company Vertical World Aerosports and Adventure, along with Telangana tourism. Sukumar now wants to introduce the flavors of rural Telangana to homemade people. He is now working on setting up eateries that specialize in offering authentic and popular Telangana cuisine.The first of his eateries will be at the Telangana Aeroventure and Adventure village, which began operations in October 2021. Also, Sukumar is very clear that the menu will not include items like dal tadka, chicken 65, naan, etc. Instead, he will be serving annam, pappu, charu, kodi kura, chepa pulusu, boti fry, sakinalu and more.The best part is he will not be hiring chefs from trained hotel management institutes. Instead, Sukumar plans to get cooks from rural Telangana who cook home-cooked food. Sukumar shares that the real rustic rural food does not come with complex spices and formula gravies.The eateries will be coming up at various tourist hangout places on the city's outskirts, like at Ranganayaka Sagar, Kondapochamma reservoir in Siddipet, Udandapur, and Karivena project in Telangana. Being a food lover and traveler himself, Sukumar sees a huge potential in the project.His second objective is to get youth from villages involved in the project as it will substantiate their livelihood. Finally, he says he wants to give food cooked on firewood, paired with jonna rotte, and replace beer and carbonated drinks with toddy.

Unbeatable Combo of Adventure Ride and Rural Telangana Food

Born and brought up in Hyderabad, it was only natural for Raymond Andrews to open a biryani place. Well, it’s just that he happens to be a Tamilian with a taste for biryani. He started Biryani Blues along with his wife Aparna, and since then, he hasn’t looked back.Just in you were wondering where the restaurant is in Hyderabad, then, sweat not. There is no Biryani Blues in Hyderabad. Raymond feels the Hyderabadi market is over-saturated with biryani places, and it is low-hanging fruit. However, he says he will eventually enter the market someday.It all began when the couple would travel to other places and carry packs of Hyderabadi biryani with them. They would freeze it and eat it for days. That’s when they hit upon the idea of having a biryani house that would be a QSR chain, like Domino’s Pizza, for example. They started their first 16-seater store in March in Delhi, which took off really well.Of course, they had their share of ‘nay sayers.’ They were told north Indians would not take to rice. But the couple did not seem to be bothered by them. They went right ahead and opened their first joint. Now, they intend to open Biryani Blues in Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, and other places down south.Raymond is quite clear about his business strategy. He says they never tamper with the originality of the recipes. Of course, the only change is in the meat-rice ratio, he says.

Biryani Blues Making Waves Across the Country

A strange incident took place in SR Nagar. A couple, who had come to rent the house, went into the living room and were found in an intimate state. A house owner has kept a To Let board for his property and has made it available from May 1st. The couple approached him and asked him to allow them to see the house once.The owner told them that a portion on the second floor is vacant and gave them the key to look. However, they did not arrive for a long time. The owner got suspected and went up to see what is happening. They are caught red-handed indulging in inappropriate behavior.First, the girl and later the boy was seen running out of the portion and the apartment in fear after they were caught. The visuals got recorded in the apartment CCTV present in the common areas. They are now going viral on social media. The incident happened in SR Nagar Police Station limits.

Couple Comes To See Rented House, Caught Doing Inappropriate Things!

GHMC is finally moving up to better the condition of the public toilets. The Corporation is going to take steps to keep the 5435 public toilets clean and fully utilized. There are 5435 toilets (seats) in 2173 areas. Many of these toilets were not in use due to bad maintenance. At some places, the toilets were encroached and are being used for other purposes.Going forward, the management of these toilets has been handed over to local agencies as per the terms of the tender. Fifty-Seven agencies have been assigned management responsibilities to clean these three to five times each day. In commercial areas, the toilets in the main squares were cleaned at least five times and in other areas three times.&nbsp;Each toilet is assigned a QR code and a regular review is held on the maintenance of these toilets along with the cleaning time. QR code-based feedback will help big time, GHMC believes. GHMC spends Rs 25 crore every year on toilet maintenance.