Hyderabad: L&T has listed more than 50 structures — among them hotels, restaurants and commercial complexes — that have to be demolished to make way for the Metro Rail project. L&T has sent a list of these buildings, along with their photographs, to the state government. L&T said it had got permission to demolish some buildings but due to lack of support from associate agencies was delaying the work. Officials are taking months and sometimes years to demolish properties. Because the structures stand in the way, work on Metro Rail has stopped.
L&T said the design change initiated by Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited due to non-acquisition of properties would have cost and time implications. At Nampally, L&T has listed Royal Hotel, Green Royal Hotel complex, Ram Pratap Bhavan and Andhra Handloom Centre. At Narayanguda, Sree Ganesh Agencies and some private buildings, Kamal Enterprises and Rowland Tailors need to give way.
At Chikkadpally, L&T wants Mandeep Garments, Royal Glass, Chandi Sons Garments, Radhakrishna Bakery, Om Sai Clinic among others. For the Assembly Metro Rail station, L&T told the government that the structures housing Dalton Press and Lawrence & Mayo had to go. In Sultan Bazaar, property blocking the Metro Rail path had been demolished, and work on erecting the pillars was underway.
L&T said that as advised by HMRL it was casting its pier above the existing properties by utilising the air space, but there were safety issues. The support of HMRL is required, it said. In the core Sultan Bazaar area, some properties were hindering work on the viaduct. L&T said it was waiting for site handover to put up the segments. At Durgam Cheruvu, L&T listed Vishal Peripherals, Liberty Book Store, Hitec Wines, Mateeshwari, Delhiwala Sweets and Sree Krishna Plywood for demolition to make way for the station entry and exit points.
In Madhapur, the foundation was complete but the building housing Siri Sampada and others had to be demolished to start work on the segments. At the Peddamma temple station, L&T said Kappas Studio and other structures needed to be removed for the station entry and exit construction. The other properties identified by L&T for demolition were Indian Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Transstroy at Jubilee Hills check post station, Sai Krupa and South Park at Road No. 5 station, Ganesh Shyam Motors, Lilaswamy Tent House, Srikanth Lodge, Sri Sai Amravati Enterprises, Sri Venkateswara Steel and Cement at Yousufguda.
Cracks in L&T, Metro talks:
The cold war between Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited and L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd continued on Monday with L&T officials skipping a special task force meeting. A senior member of HMRL said L&T officials had been invited for the meeting as land acquisition and pending works were on the agenda. “L&T officials were earlier attending such meetings and sorting out differences but they are now responding now,” he said. The meeting was being held after six months. Such meetings were held regularly earlier to take stock of land acquisition. It was stopped as it became a time-consuming affair with no proper outcome.
A senior officer said HMRL managing director N.V.S. Reddy after securing a one-year extension was ensuring that pending works were being completed. “The project work is going on in 66 km and in many corridors it has neared completion,” he said. Work on 2,531 pillars and 59 stations was going on. The biggest challenge was making way for the staircase at the road-level, he said.
A senior L&T officer said road and level work was yet to start on the stretch from Jubliee Hills, Ameerpet, to the Lifestyle building and other crowded and congested areas. The staircase and elevators had to be installed but getting permissions was a problem. This is causing a further delay for L&T, he said. The meeting chaired by chief secretary S.P. Singh along with municipal administration secretary Naveen Mittal, officials of the Ranga Reddy district administration and Mr Reddy. The meeting would up in 30 minutes.
