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Big gap in Metro Rail plan

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">While Hyderabad Metro Rail operations have been planned in six stages, connectivity between these stages remains a major problem.&nbsp;</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">Stage-I commercial operations between Nagole and Mettuguda, spread over 8 Km, are scheduled to commence from March 2015.&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">But the next connectivity from Mettuguda to Ameerpet is being taken up in stage-3 instead of stage-2, which will take one more year from March 2015 to complete.&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">Meanwhile doubts are being raised whether the stage-I will serve any purpose for commuters as it is confined to just 8 Km on which hardly any major educational institutions, offices or commercial centres is located.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The postponement of commercial operations to March 2015 against the earlier deadline of December 2014 has also created fresh doubts whether the project would meet the actual deadlines.&nbsp;</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">The deadline set by the state for L&amp;T to complete the entire 72 Km project is 05.06.2017. However, only 8 Km will become operational by March 2015, leaving a little over 2 years to complete the remaining.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The 8 Km stretch passes along the Uppal, Habsiguda, Tarnaka and Mettuguda main roads.&nbsp;</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">The stretch only covers the lands belonging to Survey of India, NGRI, OU, CCMB, and National Institute of Nutrition and to SCR, which normal commuters hardly visit on a daily basis.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Citizens say that it would have been useful for commuters if Metro Rail operations were available from Nagole to Ameerpet in stage-I and stage-2.&nbsp;</span></span></span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">They say the main idea of Metro is to solve traffic problem by encouraging people to use the Metro rather than personal vehicles.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">But the launching of commercial operations on 8 Km beginning from Nagole, which is an isolated place in the city, doesn&rsquo;t serve any purpose.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><strong style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">Demolition issues clog Corridor-II</strong><br /> <span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">Hyderabad: The controversial Corridor-II from Jubilee Bus Station to Falaknuma has been planned only in the sixth and last stage.&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">The 15 Km stretch is expected to be operational in 2017.&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">However, the officials are yet to address the contentious issue of demolishing the existing structures at the heritage markets in Sultan Bazaar and Badi Chowdi, and the religious places on the Metro Rail path.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><strong><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Corridor-II is said to be densest among the three Metro corridors</span></span></span></strong><br /> <span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">This congested stretch will be the last to get Metro services, thanks to the controversies surrounding it.&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">The roads in this stretch are extremely narrow, with very little scope for taking up road widening to enable Metro Rail. No solution seems to have been offered for this.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Secondly, a five-storied commercial complex was promised in Putlibowli to rehabilitate the traders who will be displaced by the project. It&rsquo;s been two and a half years but the project is nowhere near implementation.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">HMR MD said that they&nbsp; are waiting for revised designs for the complex as the designs they received were not satisfactory.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The traders, however, are pressing for realignment of the route as they want to save the heritage markets.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial"><strong>Pipelines delay works</strong></span></span></span><br /> <span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">Hyderabad; Underground utility lines like drains, water pipes and electricity lines are proving to be major roadblocks in the timely completion of HMR works.&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(105, 105, 105); font-family:arial; font-size:11px; line-height:1.6em">They are delaying the work in the area by a couple of months to a year.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">L&amp;T, the project developer, looks at it as a major hindrance in meeting the set deadline for Phase-II which is in July 2017.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">V.B. Gadgil, chief executive and managing director, L&amp;T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) said, &ldquo;These underground utilities that are surprisingly being encountered at the pillar points are a cause of concern. It is delaying the ongoing works as we have to make an alternate arrangement if the utility is functional, and only then we can proceed.&rdquo;</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">The 1,200 mm Krishna water pipe line, for instance, was encountered along Metro Corridor-III at Mettuguda and took a year to get shifted to an adjoining location.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">HMR MD N.V.S. Reddy said that neither the GHMC nor the Water Board had any maps to show the existence of such a drain.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Similarly, last September, the metro team was taken by surprise when they dug out a decades old Nizam era storm water drain at the Public Gardens&ndash; Telugu University line and the M.J. Market stretch. The drain was 10-feet deep.</span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:#696969"><span style="font-size:11px"><span style="font-family:arial">Source-On Request</span></span></span></p>