Metro Expansion in Full Swing in Old City, Pista House to Be Demolished
Compensation distributed to property owners as HAML accelerates demolition for the 7.5-km Metro stretch.
Hyderabad: The dismantling of some of well-known places places in the Old City, including Meena Plaza at Pathargatti and Pista House on Charminar road has started, to make way for the Metro Rail, on Sunday. The Hyderabad Airport Metro Limited (HAML) announced on Sunday that Lahoti Building and Akbar Function Hall had been demolished, and places like Shabbar Cafe, Swagat Hotel, Lily Rose School, an aquapurifier shop and Akbar mechanic shop were being dismantled.
So far, compensation cheques worth Rs 212 crores had been distributed for 205 affected properties, said HAML managing director N.V.S. Reddy.
"Acquisition of affected properties on the 7.5-km stretch from MG Bus Station (MGBS) to Chandrayangutta is progressing rapidly," stated Reddy. A total of 1,100 properties will be affected on this stretch. Reddy explained that some highly entangled electric, telephone and other cables on both sides of the route, which were acting as bottlenecks, were being removed by engineering teams to facilitate demolition of affected properties.
He added that the expansion works were being carried out under the supervision of HAML engineers along with revenue and police wings. Reddy appreciated the property owners for "voluntarily coming forward, accepting the compensation offered by the government, and handing over their properties."
He added that the debris of several demolished buildings had been cleared for road expansion. "All precautions are being taken to ensure that sensitive structures are not affected in any way," Reddy said.
Though the pace of work slowed down slightly during Ramzan, it has picked up momentum and is progressing smoothly. Reddy added that Metro Rail construction would begin as soon as approval from the Centre was received. "There are hundreds of photographs and videos which indicate the complexity of property demolition in the Old City,” he said and added that HAML teams were carrying out demolition of properties without affecting the nearby structures.