Title - Metro ahead of schedule

Hyderabad Metro Rail managing director N.V.S. Reddy on Saturday expressed confidence that the project will be completed ahead of schedule, going by the current pace of work. He said the project will solve city’s traffic problems once it becomes fully operational within five years. Mr Reddy gave a detailed presentation on the Metro Rail project at a seminar in Jubilee Hall, which was attended by Speaker Nadendla Manohar, minister for municipal administration Maheedhar Reddy and senior officials from municipal administration and the roads and buildings department.“The deadline fixed for the project is July 5, 2017. The construction works are now moving at a faster pace and we hope to complete the project ahead of schedule,” he said. Mr Reddy said, “The existing public transport in the city is being run by APSRTC. Out of about 7.8 million motorised trips in the city, the share of public transport is only about 40 per cent. There are over 2.6 million vehicles now and about 0.2 million vehicles are being added every year. Despite widening of roads, they will not be able to meet the exponential vehicular traffic growth in future. In this scenario, the Metro Rail project will offer the best alternative and most viable public transport system in the city.” He said the project is expected to create job for two lakh people.

‘Gods’ stop Metro Rail, not mortals

While officials have managed to tackle mortals, they are stumped by the gods who are creating hurdles for the `13,000-crore Hyderabad Metro Rail project. Though liberal compensation and attractive rehabilitation packages did the trick for individuals and businesses, religious structures along the project site are giving nightmares to officials. Relocation and shifting of shrines have emerged as a major challenge for the GHMC that is widening 71 km of roads by up to 100 feet along the three main corridors in the city to provide right of way for the Metro Rail project.

There are nearly 50 structures including mosques, dargahs, chillas, graveyards, shamshan vatikas, temples and churches that the authorities have to deal with before widening the three corridors of Miyapur to LB Nagar, Jubilee Bus Station to Falaknuma and Nagole to Shilparamam. As per the agreement with L &T, 90 per cent of the project site should have been handed over to it by now, but this hasn’t happened. “So far, we have given 86 per cent of the total right of way to L&T. We have acquired 2,000 pro-perties and another 1,400 have to be acquired. The major challenge is religious structures. Though the figure of 50 religious structures sounds small, relocation of even a tiny shrine is a gigantic task,” said GHMC additional commissioner K. Dhanunjaya Reddy.