With Telangana government firm on re-alignment of Hyderabad Metro on two of the three corridors, the cost of the project is set to escalate by a few hundred crore rupees.
L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Ltd. (LTMRHL), which is building the elevated Metro, will complete the study within a month for realignment and submit its report to the government.
Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) managing director N.V.S. Reddy told reporters Tuesday that the realignment would escalate the project cost by a few hundred crore rupees. "It could be Rs.300 crore to Rs.400 crore," he said.
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has asked LTMRHL to change the metro route on two corridors to save heritage structures.
Reddy said there would be slight changes on the routes in front of state assembly building and Sultan Bazar areas.
The LTMRHL is building 72-km elevated metro project at a cost of Rs.14,132 crore in public private partnership.
More From This Section
The state government will bear the escalated cost. It will also compensate the developer for the work already done near the assembly building.
Reddy was confident that the changes would not delay the project, which is scheduled to be fully operational in 2017.
The commercial operations between Nagole and Mettuguda, an eight-km stretch on the first corridor, are scheduled to begin in March next year. The test runs are currently underway on this stretch.
The HMRL managing director said so far 21 train cars have arrived from the Hyundai-Rotem Factory in South Korea. The developer has ordered a total of 171 train cars. It plans to operate the trains with a frequency of two to three minutes.
Reddy said studies would be done to extend Hyderabad Metro to 200 km as suggested by the chief minister as part of his plans to make Hyderabad a global city.
He said Metro Rail would be laid on another 80 km in the second phase. "The subsequent phases will also be planned depending on the resources," the official added.
He also announced that HMRL would build 200 skywalks on both sides under the viaduct, connecting the stations to commercial complexes, hospitals, schools and other places.
HMRL is also taking steps to make the project people and environment friendly. As part of this, it conducted a national competition on planning and designing of landscaping in central media under the viaduct of all the three corridors.
Telangana Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma Tuesday presented awards to three designers. Rohit Adarde of Earth Work, Bangalore won the first prize of Rs.8 lakh. Oscar of Oscar and Ponni Architects and Harish Vangara of Iammies Landscapes bagged second and third prize of Rs.6 lakh and Rs.4 lakh respectively.
Their designs have become property of HMRL, which will use them to give a green look to the project and reduce the carbon footprint.
Sharma hoped the designs would add aesthetics to the project and bring harmony between the nature and the concrete structure.