The long-awaited metro rail phase-II has been cleared by the Cabinet with an estimate of ₹24,269 crores and it will be completed in the next four years connecting key routes on all sides of the city apart from extending the present routes.
Metro rail expansion was one of the major decisions taken by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy after he took over as the Chief Minister last December and giving connectivity to the airport was one of the main targets fixed by the government.
To be built under public-private partnership (PPP) mode with the participation of Central and State governments, the total cost is being estimated at ₹24,269 crore. Of this, the State government will share 30% and that works out to be ₹7,313 crore while the Centre will bear 18% of the cost that works out to be ₹4,230 crore. The remaining 52% of the funds will be raised through loans.
As of now, the Hyderabad Metro Rail is successfully operating 69 km in three corridors built by the previous Congress government in the first phase. This project was built with a budget of ₹22,000 crore under PPP.
The present carrying capacity of the metro rail in its three routes is around 5 lakh people per day and an additional 8 lakh people can travel if the second phase becomes operative.
Mr. Revanth Reddy has been arguing that the previous BRS government neglected the expansion of the project in the last 10 years. When the Metro Rail was launched in Hyderabad, it was the second city in the country to have the facility after New Delhi.
While the BRS government neglected the expansion, several other cities completed their first phase as well as launching the second phase. Congress government targets the BRS saying that despite being the second city to have a metro rail facility other metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata, and even smaller cities like Pune, Nagpur and Ahmedabad have also overtaken Hyderabad in metro expansion.
The delay has also led to cost escalation, putting an enormous burden on the second phase plans. But despite the financial constraints, Mr. Revanth Reddy is firm on the second phase taking the connectivity to suburban areas that have now expanded to the neighbouring districts.
The new five corridors proposed in the second phase include Nagole to Shamshabad Airport (36.8 km), Raidurg to Kokapet to Neopolis (11.6 km), MGBS to Chandrayangutta (7.5 km), Miyapur to Patancheru (13.4 km) and L.B. Nagar to Hayatnagar (7.1 km).
Published – October 28, 2024 03:39 am IST