The prestigious Hyderabad Metro Rail is all set to be delayed following the directions of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to make the project partially underground.
According to sources, KCR has issued oral directions to the L&T authorities to stop the works on Chaderghat - Khairtabad stretch which he wants to go underground instead of elevated corridor. However, this could not be confirmed from any official sources. But the sources in L&T said that they were waiting for an official communication from the Telangana Government on KCR's proposal.
Meanwhile, sources in the L&T said that KCR's proposal was not practical due to technical reasons. Besides, it will escalate the costs by over Rs 2,000 crore and the entire project would be delayed by at least five years.
The Chaderghat to Khairtabad stretch is of about 8 kilometres and the HMR authorities will have install nearly 30 pillars per kilometre for the project. So far, nearly 60 pillars have already been installed on the stretch at a cost of over Rs 50-60 lakh each. If the project goes underground, the demolition of these pillars would cost nearly Rs 1 crore per pillar.
To take the metro rail underground, the HMR authorities would have to dig the entire stretch 20-25 metres deep. The depth will be nearly 30-35 metres at the stations. It will also require an area of 4-5 acres radius at the starting point of digging. The depth will be 30-40 metres near the railway tracks. Therefore, the digging of underground route for the metro rail will be time consuming and costly affair. Further, the entire stretch of 8 KM will have to be close down for traffic to carryout digging.
Therefore, the proposal to make HMR partially underground might delay the entire project. The HMR and L&T authorities have written a letter to the Principal Secretary of Municipal Administration & Urban Development Department seeking clarification on the views expressed by the Chief Minister. However, they are still waiting for a reply.