Centre tells Telangana State to resolve Metro row

The stand-off between the two parties worsened after the recent letter written by L&T to the TS government offering to walk out of the project “leaked” to the media.

The letter found fault with the government for raking up the realignment issue at this stage besides severe delay in giving “right of way” to the project to take up construction in core areas of the city.

The Prime Minister’s Office directly intervened to resolve the differences between the two. Senior officials in the PMO convened a meeting of Telangana chief secretary Dr Rajiv Sharma and advisor to TS government B.V. Paparao in New Delhi on Monday to discuss the issue.

The meeting convened by the Cabinet secretary and principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asked TS officials to sort out the issues with L&T at the earliest to pave way for the speedy completion of the project.

TS officials briefed them about the progress of the project and denied creating problems for the project by delaying approvals to take up construction work. “The government fully supports the project and there are no serious issues pending with the TS government in implementation of the project. The project is being implemented faster than any other project in the country by L&T. The work is moving on schedule and all the targets are being met on time,” Dr Rajiv Sharma said.

TS government officials apprised the PMO officials that the recent leakage of the letter to selective newspapers was the work of the Andhra lobby to tarnish the brand image of Hyderabad. Dr Sharma said that the Centre has assured full cooperation from its side for the speedy completion of the Metro project.

The Hyderabad Metro Rail has told the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation that it requires only 100 sq. ft space for the Metro work on the stretch from Nampally to Gandhi Bhavan.

This stretch was not being developed as it was thought that the road had to be widened to 120 feet. Work on this stretch had come to a halt since the last three months.

N.V.S. Reddy, managing director of the Hyderabad Metro Rail, said, “We have finally sorted out the problem and told the GHMC that we require only 100 feet. The government’s plan was to widen it to 120 ft. But there were too many issues due to the existing commercial shops and old buildings. The present 100 ft is enough for us.”

A detailed meeting was carried out on Monday and the required clearances have been sorted out to allow Larsen & Toubro to carry out work along this stretch. At the same time, the Metro will be crossing the South Central Railway at Augaddabavi, Chikalguda, Oliphenta Bridge, Bhoiguda, Bharatnagar, Begumpet, Lakdi Ka Pul and Malakpet.

The Metro overbridges will have to cross Alugaddavi, Chikalguda, Oliphenta Bridge, Bhoiguda and Secunderabad railway station at double heights ranging from 35 ft to 74 ft.

South Central Railway general manager P.K. Srivastava said traffic blocks in this areas will be cleared.