Shabbir questions BRS govt’s sincerity on Metro Rail connectivity in Old city

Hyderabad: Congress senior leader and TPCC Political Affairs Committee (PAC) Convener Mohammed Ali Shabbir has questioned the sincerity of the BRS government in its commitment to provide Metro Rail connectivity to the Old City of Hyderabad.

In a media statement on Monday, Shabbir Ali said the government’s announcement of issuing land acquisition notices in a month to 1,000 properties in the Old City was a tactic to delay the project until the announcement of Assembly elections. He accused the government of intending to credit the non-existent project to its ally MIM in order to mislead the people during the next elections.

Shabbir Ali highlighted the fact that the State Government had allocated Rs 500 crore in the annual budgets twice for the Metro Rail connectivity in the Old City. However, he pointed out that no agreement had been signed between the government and the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL). He also questioned how the HMRL could begin construction without a Detailed Project Report and proper financial disclosure. The estimated cost of the project was over Rs 2,000 crore, but the HMRL had been misleading the public by suggesting that it could be completed within the allocated Rs 500 crore. Additionally, he revealed that the Finance Department had not released the allocated funds to the HMRL. Despite this, the BRS Government forced the HMRL to issue a statement regarding the commencement of the project, he alleged.

He highlighted that the previous Congress Government had initially approved a 72-km phase-1 metro project, which included a corridor connecting MGBS-Imlibun to Falaknuma, a 5.5 km stretch on the green line. However, the BRS government halted the Old City corridor while completing the rest of the 67 km and commencing operations.