Hyderabad: Larsen & Turbo has asked the Telangana state government and also Hyderabad Metro Rail to give clarity on how to go ahead as work at Narayanguda will be completed soon. Since the last one-and-a-half years, work in this corridor has been stalled.
A senior officer of Larsen & Turbo said, “We have written to the state government seeking clarity on how to proceed. We are sending reminders and communicating to the government on a regular basis.”
With work at Narayanguda to be completed soon, Hyderabad Metro Rail will have to move further and, according to the original plan, move towards Badi Chowdi. The Telangana state government has proposed a left from Badi Chowdi towards Tilak Road and ending up behind Koti Women’s College.
But traders are against this route. They have been demanding that from Narayanguda, the Metro must turn right towards the Vir Savarkar statue and enter Ramkote, go past the Nehru statue near Abids and move through Tilak Road, past the Government Post Office, Moazzam Jahi Market and enter the MGB bus stand.
Mr Govind Rathi of Traders Joint Action Committee said, “We have tried so many times to meet Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao but we are not being given an appointment. How can we explain our stand to him? It is not fair.”
The traders are upset that Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen members are being called for Metro Rail meetings at the Secretariat, but the committee’s request for a meeting is not being sanctioned.
While the traders are up in arms, so are the students of Koti Women’s College. A senior government officer said, “The Telangana government is taking some time due to the reactions from all the affected sections on the Sultan Bazaar route. The technical works of moving sewage lines and electric cables along the proposed original route has been carried out. But the government has to take a final call on the route.”
Stuck between these warring groups, Larsen & Turbo officers are reminding the government of the corridor, works on which require to be taken up immediately.
A senior officer said, “We can’t sit idle with the project. The works in Sultan Bazaar area have to go on a particular route and the government has to decide which one soon. There is already a delay and it is high time that they take a decision.”
Tenant traders oppose route
Owners of the commercial buildings in Sultan Bazaar are ready to give up their properties for the Metro Rail, but their trader tenants are not willing to let go. A senior Hyderabad Metro Rail officer said, “The owners are scared as there are a large number of tenants. The rents are low, and the owners are looking forward to the compensation offered by the government.” The government offers compensation at the prevailing market rates.
Tenants have formed the Traders Joint Action Committee and are opposing the Metro Rail route. A senior state government officer said, “It has become a game of milking the government. When the owners were willing to hand over their buildings, Hyderabad Metro Rail failed to secure the deeds in writing.” With parking being a major deterrent for customers at Sultan Bazaar, a senior HMR officer said they were showing the traders the Old Delhi model.
“We are trying to explain to businessmen that there will be more footfalls and more business if they allow the Metro Rail to go ahead. We are giving them the example of Old Delhi. There too people found it very difficult to go due to the traffic congestion and lack of parking space. Once the Metro Rail came up, business has improved in Old Delhi areas. Here also some traders have taken this positively but due to pressure from others, they are not willing to come out in the open and talk.”
