Indecision on Raidurg underpass and old city alignment still mar Metro works

The government’s insistence on completing the underpass at Mindspace junction near Raidurg and indecision on alignment in the old city could jeopardise any chances of the Hyderabad Metro Rail project completing within the extended timeline of December 2018.

Save for a few sections, the metro rail piers, viaduct and overhead stations are under construction in all the three corridors – L.B. Nagar to Miyapur, Jubilee Bus Station to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (Falaknuma) and Nagole to Shilparamam (Raidurg).

While there are no bottlenecks at all for the first corridor except for the railway crossovers to be done sometime next year, the second corridor will come to a grinding halt at the MGBS, Imlibun; since officially there is no word whether the government will yield to Majlis Party demand to change the alignment. Or if it will stick to the original route as it has done thus far despite initial uncertainty at Legislative Assembly and Sultan Bazaar.

Metro rail officials do not want to hazard any guess where things are moving. “A decision has to be made sooner than later, otherwise, we will see the prospect of overhead metro trains running just up to MGBS for Corridor Two,” sigh senior officials, not wishing to be identified.

Another corridor of uncertainty is the last mile construction of taking the viaduct towards the right of Hi-Tec City building towards Raidurg through the central median crossing the Cyber Pearl building. As if the delays are not enough, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) proposal of building an underpass at the Mindspace Junction will surely take a few more months before the line goes till Raidurg.

L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad has been “convinced to wait” for the underpass to be completed before it can think of putting piers on the stretch. It means work on at least 40 piers has been held up besides the viaduct construction. “Soil studies are currently on but the piers height will vary now depending on the elevation,” say senior officials.

Originally, the metro rail was supposed to terminate at Shilparamam but as it was found to be a water body, the line was extended by a kilometre to Raidurg where a 15-acre site was earmarked. L&TMRH intends to construct a terminal station along with one of the biggest malls of the city.