Hyderabad(Hyd): Evenas the state govt is all stated to commence work (5) on the Warangal metro rail, not a single stone was laid even as of now to construct the line to full the pending MGBS to Falaknuma line, that going to essentially bring the metro to the core Old City region. Although the metro rail was up & racing (presently discontinued because of COVID-19-19) from over a yr., the south zone only has limited accessibility to it.
Now, the closest metro line to the Charminar (or) internal Old City regions is the Malakpet (or) MGBS (Imliban) station, from where the Charminar is over a kilometer far away. The metro lines run around the city today, connecting regions like Gandhi hospital (3) to LB Nagar & Hi-Tech City, amongst remaining.
The Old City is still lacking metro connectivity despite of the truth that the public there is double that of Warangal city, & the govt seems to be apathetic in this complaint. The public of Hyderabad(Hyd)’s south zone is believed to be between 20 & 25 lakhs, awhile that of Warangal city is 11 lakh.
The famous Charminar region, that a shopping hub-cum-historical attraction for tourists, sees large number of visitors each day. With only autos & limited parking space, it’s anything however convenient to approach there, even using by-lanes. Detecting a location, specially to park four-wheelers, is a monumental headache specially within the evenings & during this mo of Ramzan, when there is literally no place to walk.
The popular lad bazaar, also within the Charminar region, has hoards of citizens checking its popular bangle markets on a daily basis. As per the Old City Metro Rail Joint Action Committee (JAC), the original building schedule in Apr 2012 of the Metro project has been for a overall of 71 km involving 6 km in Old City beginning from Darulshifa (MGBS) to Falaknuma, the route from JBS to Falaknuma in corridor-II.
Initially, (or) technically, the MGBS to Falaknuma goes via DarulShifa, Purani Haveli, Eitebar Chowk, Sultan Shahi, Shah Ali Banda, Syed Ali Chabutra & Shamsheer Gunj, with 6 metro stations in the Salarjung museum, Charminar, Shah Ali Banda, Shamshergunj, Jangammet & Falaknuma. However even after 6 yrs. after work (5) on the Hyderabad(Hyd) Metro Rail project started, it’s nowhere close to the Charminar region.
“From the project has been initiated, the govt is only paying lipservice, however nothing on the field could be witnessed. We insist the officials to announce the date of metro rail project & begin project work (5) in Old City”, stated a JAC member who didn’t need to be quoted. He added further that the metro rail project has approached MGBS covering 66 km in this city, however is yet to enter the Old City. “Works must were finished by 2016,” he also pointed out.
A Sr. legislator from that Sr. legislator from that Old City, who also didn’t wanted to be quoted, mockingly said that the CM KCR govt turns a deaf ear whenever it’s questioned regarding this problem.
Talking to LD.com, Hyderabad(Hyd) Metro Rail (HMR) people relations official (PRO) Krishnanand, awhile originally stating that “work (5) is now in procedure” & inquired this journalist to see information on the HMR site. The PRO although went back on his own words & conceded that no work (5) has in reality initiated on the JBS-Falaknuma line, after this journalist checked to verify it.
Besides, on multiple occasions, All India(In) Majilis-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) floor leader & MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi claimed that the Old City was given a raw deal in terms of metro connectivity.