Telangana government has clarified that the design of Hyderabad Metro project is not locked after Central government’s gazette notification as publicized in the media. Reliable Sources in the government says that there are chances to make changes in the project alignment. They say after the gazette notification, any changes have to be issued to the concessionaire in the form of a notice and then the concessionaire will express its opinions and inhibitions over the changes which will be ratified by an independent engineer.
Then both the parties will come to a conclusion and the agreed changes will be taken up after the state government pays the compensation to the concessionaire for changing the alignment. Later on the changed alignment should be incorporated in the Union Urban development ministry’s gazette once again. Experts say even if Telangana government’s argument is right, they will not have a free hand in changing the alignment since the concessionaire L&T will have to approve the changes. The source informed us that the government will very soon propose the changes to the alignment.
It is known that TRS government is asking for the changing in the existing alignment of the Metro Project at the old Assembly building and Sultan Bazaar. However, L&T, the concessionaire of the project has clarified that underground metro will not be a feasible option in Hyderabad as it will not only escalate the project costs but also will risk the extinction of ground water in Hyderabad.
