Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao instructed the Municipal Administration department to move forward with the metro project in Old City.
The Hyderabad Metro expansion has seen many promises but little action on the-ground. (iStock.jpg)
Telangana’s Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, KT Rama Rao, made an announcement on Monday, 10 July, stating that the government has initiated measures to take the metro rail project into Hyderabad’s Old City.
He revealed that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao instructed the Municipal Administration Department to move forward with the metro project in the Old City.
KTR stated, “He (KCR) also spoke to the Chairman of L&T, the agency responsible for executing the Metro Rail Project, urging them to expedite the project and assured them of all necessary support.”
Hon’ble CM KCR has instructed the Municipal Administration department to take forward the Metro project in Old city of Hyderabad
He also spoke to Chairman of L&T which is the agency executing the Metro Rail Project to expeditiously take up the project and promised all needed…
— KTR (@KTRBRS) July 10, 2023
Currently, the metro rail network covers a distance of 69 km, with three corridors: Miyapur to LB Nagar, Jubilee Bus Stand to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Stand, and Nagole to Raidurgam.
It has been serving a large number of IT and service employees for the past six years, since the first metro line became operational from Miyapur in 2017. However, the Old City area has not yet witnessed the presence of the metro.
The fate of the 5.5 km metro rail project from Mahatma Gandhi Bus Stand (MGBS) to Falaknuma, which was part of the original plan for the Green Line, has been pending for years. This project was designed to include prominent locations such as Salar Jung Museum, Charminar, and Shamsheer Gunj, at the heart of the Old City. Unfortunately, it remains halted at MGBS.
A few months ago, suspended BJP legislator T Raja Singh staged a protest demanding that the government construct the metro line from MGBS to Falaknuma, covering the Old City.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), the largest party with legislators in the Old City, proposed an alternative route alongside the Musi river, passing by the high court, the city college, Hussaini Alam, Kalapather, and Bahadurpura.
However, this route would have increased the distance by another 3 km.
When the Telangana government announced the airport metro project, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi accused the government of discriminating against the people of the Old City by not extending the metro to their area.
Meanwhile, the Telangana government has announced various metro projects on different occasions.
On 22 June, KCR promised to extend the Hyderabad metro rail up to Patancheru in the Sangareddy district, if his party is voted to power for the third consecutive term in the Assembly elections scheduled for December this year.
Additionally, on 19 June, he announced the further extension of the Hyderabad Metro Rail network to Kandukur in the Maheshwaram constituency, stating that it would be expanded to more areas in the state capital region.
In a meeting on 24 June with Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, KTR presented a comprehensive list of requests.
At the top of the list was the approval and external funding for Phase II (B) of the Hyderabad metro’s corridor from BHEL to Lakdikapul (26 km), as well as the extension of Corridor 3 of Phase I from LB Nagar to Nagole (5 km).
Simultaneously, work on the 31-km Airport Express Corridor from Raidurgam to Narsingi Junction, which houses numerous IT companies, has been expedited.
The Airport Express Metro Corridor will commence from the Raidurgam terminal at Mindspace Junction, pass through Biodiversity Junction and Khajaguda Road, and connect to Nanakramguda Junction on the Outer Ring Road (ORR).
Authorities at the Hyderabad Airport Metro Limited are preparing bid documents to float tenders for engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) mode. Officials have mentioned that the nodal agency has been diligently working on the bid documents and a tender will be released soon.
As for the Old City metro project, despite the commencement of road widening work on the structures four years ago, the actual construction is yet to begin.
Officials have indicated that unless the entire five-km road widening is undertaken at once, numerous bottlenecks will arise along the stretch. This would necessitate the closure of businesses for wholesalers and retailers until the road widening is completed.
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