Vijayawada: The Vijayawada Metro Rail Project is likely to face financial hurdles at the beginning of project works when it needs initially Rs 700 crore for land acquisition alone. The Centre has allocated only Rs 100 crore in the recent Budget for this project while the state government also did not reveal its expenditure allocation plan. Nearly 75 acres of land is required for the metro rail stations, bridges, depots and construction of track in prime locations of the city. Majority of the landowners are opposing to give their lands by claiming that their lands are very costly.
According to reports, the project needs nearly Rs 700 crore for land acquisition. Actually, the state government is very keen to implement the project by taking it as a prestigious one, but due to the state’s financial condition, the project may turn out to be a burden initially, especially for land acquisition.
As per officials, nearly 62.58 acres of land is required for the metro depot at Ramavarapadu. Apart from this, 12.58 acres of land should be acquired for 25 metro stations from Pundit Nehru bus station to Ramavarapadu stretch. Already, the officials of the metro rail estimated that Rs 700 crore is needed to pay compensation as per the norms of Land Acquisition Act.
But landowners of Ramavarapadu refused to give their lands for establishing the depot claiming that their lands at the roadside are very costlly and demanded that the government set up the depot in interior parts of the proposed location where lands are available at lesser cost.
As per the developments, more budget may be required for land acquisition from landowners. However, the officials submitted a report to tje state government over funds requirement. The Vijayawada Metro Rail Corporation managing director G. Ramakrishna Reddy said that the government has already decided to release Rs 150 crore initially for the project works. The funds may be released soon, he added. The Japan International Cooperation Agency has almost accepted to give financial support for the project but 10 more months is required for realising funds from it, he said.
