Commuters using the Bengaluru-Hyderabad highway can breathe a sigh of relief.

Recently, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy said that the Bengaluru-Hyderabad (NH 44) would be made into six lanes from the existing four-lane road. It is also set to get a real-time digital information management system. The approximate cost of conversion is Rs 4,750 crore, said an official release.Nanda Kishore, a traffic expert, explains the route’s popularity. “Every day, thousands of people travel between the two cities. Though there are a few trains, a large part of the railway track is a single one. Hence, even for a super-fast Rajdhani train, it takes more than 11 hours to cover the distance. On the other hand, the travel time between Bengaluru and Hyderabad by flight is an hour.Earlier, there was a two-lane road between Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It would take around 12 hours to cover the distance of 570 kilometres. However, with the increase in traffic, the travel time only increased. Since then, the flyover was widened to four lanes and bypasses were constructed at key cities, reducing the travel time to less than eight hours. Now, officials hope that if the road is converted to a six-lane road, the travel time may decrease further.

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