Old City Metro: Demolitions Accelerated at Chandrayangutta
The demolitions of properties, which began earlier this year, have been accelerated at Chandrayangutta, the planned interchange station, which will later get connected to Shamshabad airport in the upcoming phase.
Hyderabad: With the land acquisition for the much anticipated 7.5 km long Old City Metro Rail (Phase-II) almost completed and authorities awarding compensation to most of the 888 properties on the stretch, works were progressing at a brisk pace.
The demolitions of properties, which began earlier this year, have been accelerated at Chandrayangutta, the planned interchange station, which will later get connected to Shamshabad airport in the upcoming phase.
Following the vacation of a High Court stay on land acquisition, the Rs 2,886-crore project is moving ahead swiftly. Out of 888 affected properties along the route, 833 have already been acquired. The remaining 55 properties include complex heritage structures and ancient buildings for which the officials are adopting various measures so that all the hurdles are clear on the stretch.
Almost 90 per cent of the properties on the 7.5-km stretch have been demolished. “The demolitions are going on at the stretch of Omer Hotel at Chandrayangutta. These have picked up pace in the recent days, even though the works began for land acquisition more than six months back. There are no court related issues and the last property is awaiting demolition here,” said Mohammed Nizam, contractor.
In August, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy directed officials to fast-track work on the Old City Metro Rail corridor. Following a review meeting, the state government ordered the immediate acceleration of land acquisition and instructed the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited to launch the tendering process for the corridor at the earliest.
At Chandrayangutta, the planned interchange station will also connect the proposed 36-km Metro Rail stretch from Nagole to LB Nagar towards the Shamshabad airport. The small link of up to 5 km connectivity between Nagole to LB Nagar will open a route further connecting the airport.
However, the progress is embroiled in obstacles including the wait for the Union government’s nod, lack of clarity of the state government takeover of Metro Rail from L&T and loans for taking the project forward. “Right now, there is no progress, as we are waiting for the central government’s nod. DPR was sent during November last year. Besides this IRFC loan is also sought,” clarified an official.