Hyderabad Metro hits roadblock in new state

The ambitious Rs 16,375-crore Hyderabad Metro Rail project appears to be in jeopardy. The conce­ssi­onaire, the Larson &Toubro (L&T), is offering to withdraw owing to issues of viability of the project, in the light of projected decline of passenger footfall.

 The move is considered to deliver a blow to the newly carved state of Telangana.

The Project, which took shape during the Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s regime, was actually designed to suit the needs of commuters of a fast-growing common capital of Andhra Pradesh. The vitiated political atmosphere, declining real estate and cost escalation of the truncated state of Telangana with only 10 districts has become less attractive now.

The demand of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao not to continue construction work near heritage sites such as Moazzam Jahi Market, Assembly and Sultan Bazaar has apparently irked the L&T. Realignment would mean further delay, leading to cost escalation.

The L&T, in a recent letter to Hydera­bad Metro Rail Ltd (HMRL) Managing Director N V S Reddy asked the Telangana government to take over the project and the underlying contract from the concessionaire. “The Government of Telangana should do so by restituting the concessionaire in a manner whereby the concessionaire’s property and entitlements are retur­ned to it,” L&T Hyderabad Metro Rail Pvt Ltd Chief Executive and Managing Director V B Gadgil wrote in the letter.

Even though there is a provision in the AP Reorganisation Act that Hyderabad will remain as a common capital till Andhra Pradesh builds its own facility, L&T is aware that the project which is heavily dependent on real estate will not survive only by revenue generated by sale of tickets. “The project is linked with three main malls which have direct access from major stations en route to the destinations. With the ruling TRS is trying to take back the lands, L&T has lost interest in the project,” Telangana TDP Legislative Party leader Revanthi Reddy said.

“The change in the status of Hyderabad has resulted in a significant change in the economic and political outlook of the city, thereby causing material impact on the financial viability of the project,” Gadgil noted in the letter. However, L&T claimed that the letter was one among many that have been routinely sent to the HMRL.

The TDP is not ready to let go of the opportunity to attack the Telangana government and accused it of creating hurdles in a bid to pressurise L&T for personal benefits, damaging the brand image of Hyderabad. “In fact, KCR is planning to kick out L&T by snatching the 31.5 acres allocated to the company near Gachibowli for construction of a multi-level parking lot and handing it over to a close relative,” alleged Revanthi Reddy.

The Telangana government blamed two newspapers for the developments. The chief minister reviewed the progress of Metro Rail Project with officials of L&T, Metro Rail, and Chief Secretary. The government has claimed that such correspondence is routine, but “these selected newspapers have chosen to publish the latest correspondence mischievously and in isolation. It is felt at the review meeting that this is a deliberate attempt to project the Metro Rail project in a bad light,” the CMO office said.

In an apparent bid to involve the Centre, the Telangana government has decided to send a team to Delhi to obtain “appropriate advice” and also seek permission for the second phase of the project from acclaimed Metro Rail expert E Sridharan.

Incidentally, Sridharan has been roped in by the Andhra Pradesh government to help build two Metros in Visakhapatnam and the between Vijayawada with Guntur.

Hyderabad Metro involves construction of 66 stations with state-of-the-art facilities, including escalators and elevators. The project is being executed under the Public-Private Partnership model. All the three corridors of the metro rail, with a total stretch of 71 km, are completely above the ground on elevated flyovers passing through the median of the roads at a height of 12 meters to 18 meters.
The Hyderabad Metro, when completed, will be the largest metro rail project in the country. The first phase of the project is expected to be thrown open to public in March 2015. Heavy security arrangements will be provided at all metro stations, including access controlled passenger entry, baggage scanning, CCTV cameras and other surveillance measures.

The CCTV system will cover areas like platforms, concourse, ticketing, parking, skywalks, viaduct, entry and exits to stations, vicinity areas, inside and outside saloon of the trains.The Telangana government also unve­iled Hyderabad Metro’s mascot “Niz”, app­arently taken from the word Nizam, the erstwhile ruler of the 425-year-old Hyderabad.

 The mascot was launched by Telangana Chief Secretary Rajeev Sharma. “Niz can sprinkle the story of the City of Pearls with anecdotes of generosity and tehzeeb of the Hyderabad people, the food and the dance forms. At the same time, he can tell how Hyderabad became the IT hub it is today and attracted the Microsofts and Googles of the world,” the Metro Rail MD said.