Centre clears defence land for MMTS
In what can be termed as a major breakthrough in the Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) Phase II project, the Union Defence Ministry has directed the Local Military Authority (LMA) to complete the process of handing over defence land for MMTS project.
Local Military Authority asked to complete process by July 12
​Hyderabad: In what can be termed as a major breakthrough in the Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) Phase II project, the Union Defence Ministry has directed the Local Military Authority (LMA) to complete the process of handing over defence land for MMTS project.
According to the Union Ministry’s directive, the LMA has been asked to set up a committee comprising an officer from Railways, state government and two from LMA. The committee is to conduct a survey and demarcate the exact extent of land needed for the project. The whole process has to be completed by July 12, 2017.
The survey has to be completed by this month end. The Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), which is executing the project, has been saddled with the issue of defence land ever since the inception of the project since 2012. In all, it requires 65 acres of defence land to complete the project.
The bone of contention is the 3.85 km defence land at Suchitra Centre and 0.2 km at Bhudevi Nagar-Ammuguda stretch.
Officials at RVNL are heaving a sigh of relief as a major deck would be cleared for a final push for the project. P Srinivas, chief project manager, RVNL, said, “85 per cent of the work has been completed and once we get the required land we would be able to meet the deadline.
In the first phase, the Telapur-Ramchandrapuram corridor would be thrown open followed by Bolarum-Medchal corridor.”
The state government has released Rs 60 crore till date to the RVNL. The project is being done on cost-sharing basis, with the state government contributing 2/3rd of the cost. The estimated cost of the project in 2012-13 stood at Rs 817 crore.
An RVNL official said that they are expecting the state government to release Rs 200 crore in this financial year. Commissioning of the first phase of the project in December to a great extent depends on the release of funds from the state government.
As of now, the works are in progress with the funds available with the railways.The MMTS Phase II would be beneficial to over 3 lakh citizens in the city.
