Hyderabad Metro: HMRL Begins Preparatory Works For Old City Metro Connectivity

The Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) has announced that it has commenced preparatory works for the Hyderabad metro rail project in the Old City.

In the coming month, the HMRL will issue land acquisition notices to 1,000 properties in order to proceed with the remaining work for the metro rail in the old city.

The 5.5 km metro alignment in the old city stretches from MGBS to Falaknuma, passing through Darulshifa junction, Purani Haveli, Ettebar Chowk, Alijakotla, Mir Momin Daira, Haribowli, Shalibanda, Shamsheergunj, and Aliabad.

This route will have 5 stations, namely Salarjung Museum, Charminar, Shalibanda, Shamsheergunj, and Falaknuma.

Despite the stations being approximately 500 metre away from Salarjung Museum and Charminar, they have been named after these iconic landmarks due to their significance and prominence in the city, according to HMRL managing director N V S Reddy.

The Phase-1 works were halted at MGBS without progressing towards the old city due to various reasons, including issues with property acquisition and demands for a change in the route alignment. The presence of religious and heritage structures along this stretch has also been a frequently cited reason for the delay.

According to HMRL, there are a total of 103 religious and other sensitive structures, including 21 mosques, 12 temples, 12 ashoorkhanas, 33 dargahs, seven graveyards, and six chillas along this stretch.

However, through engineering solutions such as adjusting curvature, viaduct design and heights, and suitable alteration of metro pillar locations, all of the religious and sensitive structures, except for four, have been preserved.

The Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao have instructed the HMRL to explore alternative options for the metro rail alignment in order to protect the four religious structures that are at risk of demolition, reports Telangana Today.

In order to safeguard the religious and sensitive structures, the widening of roads will be limited to 80 feet.

Taking lessons from the Phase 1 project in other parts of the city, the roads will be widened to 120 feet at the station locations. The process of creating individual sketches of the affected properties has begun, and land acquisition notices will be issued within a month.

Originally planned as part of the 72-km phase-1 metro, the 5.5 km stretch on the green line connecting MGBS-Imlibun to Falaknuma has been delayed for several years.

Construction and operations for the remaining 67 km have been completed, but this particular corridor has not been taken up.

The initial plan was for the corridor to connect the Jubilee Bus Station in Secunderabad and Falaknuma, but it was halted at MGBS-Imlibun due to various reasons such as land acquisition issues and demands for a change in the route alignment.

The Old City extension of metro connectivity was allocated Rs 500 crore by the state government in the 2022-23 budget.