Just when things are looking up for the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) project at least in two of the three corridors, all is not well in Corridor Two - Jubilee Bus Station to Falaknuma.
While the suspense continues on when and how the metro viaduct will be built from Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) into the old city to reach Falaknuma, as of now it is going to come to a grinding halt at Imlibun.
With metro rail officials clearly stating that alternate alignment is not possible, it will be interesting to see how the old city residents react when they realise that the two stretches - Miyapur to Ameerpet of Corridor One: L.B. Nagar to Miyapur and Nagole to Ameerpet of Corridor Three: Nagole to Hi-Tec City/Shilparamam, are likely to be commissioned in November.
‘No ground work done’
“Even if works are to begin today, it may well take up to four years to complete the MGBS to Falaknuma stretch, a little over six kilometres considering no ground work was done at all.
Land acquisition of properties too for the purpose will take a lot of time,” avers senior metro rail officials, seeking anonymity.
This is not an exaggeration because metro rail authorities are continuing to struggle with regard to acquiring properties in various swathes of the city where the project is being built for 72.16 km in total.
The Sultan Bazaar-Badi Chowdi stretch under Metro Rail Corridor-II is a good example of how tough it has become to take over properties, demolish buildings, make away for road, drains, and award compensation.
After numerous agitations and years of painstaking negotiations, metro rail officials managed to reason out with the 120-odd owners to accept compensation, allow work and widen road to five feet on either side.
Gazette notification
More than a year since then, piers have come up with viaduct but acquisition of properties got stalled with just a few receiving compensation cheques because HMR funds got dried up and gazette notification having to be issued again as per the new Act.
Meantime, local people are angry over roads being dug up, lack of street lights and overflowing sewage.
“We have cooperated for metro project but we cannot accept these horrid civic conditions.
With Ganesh Chathurti festival coming up, business is getting affected and there is too much delay in acquisition of properties and road widening, despite giving consent,” bemoans Govind Rathi, V. Kishan Yadav and others of the Traders Joint Action Committee.