Radiance News
Hyderabad, Jan. 3: In a move which is expected to pave the way for rapid development of the Old City, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has asked Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) to plan Metro Rail connectivity to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport via the old city.
The previous government of BRS had laid the foundation stone for Metro Rail connectivity from Raidurg in HITEC City to the Airport. The cost for the 31 km long line was Rs.6,250 crore.
After the Congress party came to power, Revanth Reddy asked officials to put this project on hold as HITEC City and Airport already have good connectivity through Outer Ring Road.
The Chief Minister has mooted two routes to Airport from MGBS via the Old City and also from L.B. Nagar which will also pass through some parts of the Old City.
The alternate routes will place the old city on the Metro Rail map. Though one of the three Metro corridors was planned from Jubilee Bus Station in Secunderabad to Falaknuma in the Old City, the work was completed only up to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS).
The work on the 5.5 kilometers long stretch from MGBS to Falaknuma via Darulshifa, Purani Haveli, Mandi Mir Alam, Shahali Banda and other densely populated areas in the Old City was kept pending for five years.
While the Metro Rail project was completed on a total length of 69.2 km benefitting several parts of Hyderabad, the Old City was deprived of the facility.
It was only in July last year that the government asked the L&T, which is the agency executing the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project to expeditiously take up the works in the Old City. Then chief minister KCR gave the direction during a meeting with a delegation of Muslim leaders, including AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. However, the work is yet to take off.
Now the new government has not only decided to complete the Metro from MGBS to Falaknuma but also extend it to the Airport.
This will be a 23-km-long line from MGBS via Falaknuma, Chandrayanagutta and Mailardevpalli-P7 Road. Another route proposed from LBNagar to Airport will also pass through Owaisi Hospital and Chandrayangutta.
On the proposal of HMRL to widen the road from Darulshifa Junction to Shalibanda Junction in the old city Metro Rail stretch, the Chief Minister desired that the feasibility of widening the road from Darulshifa Junction up to Falaknuma Junction to 100 ft shall be examined, in consultation with the public representatives of the Old City. He is of the opinion that this will open up the Old City for rapid development on a par with other parts of the city.
Revanth Reddy, however, said that during road widening and Metro Rail planning, none of the identified 103 religious, heritage and other sensitive structures in old city shall be adversely impacted. He said if required, he will personally inspect and also involve public representatives of the Old City in this endeavor.
