Hyderabad Metro - to be the Ugliest in India?

Hyderabad Metro to be the Ugliest in India By Dr C. Ramachandraiah.

As it is, an elevated corridor itself makes the streets ugly in the thickly built core areas with the corridors at heights of 40-70 feet. Now, imagine if the corridors at such heights have overhead electric cables to run the metro rails (like the normal Indian Railways). What happened to the tall claims of the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) and L&T officials that this metro will be the most advanced in India? The story of HMR getting more bizarre as the time passes! 

The latest in the metro rail technology is to supply electricity through a Third Rail that runs between the two tracks. The moving train derives power from this Third  Rail. The Delhi metro rail has opted for it between Delhi and Gurgaon. The Bangalore metro rail too is operating on the Third Rail technology.  Further, this system costs over 25 % less than the traditional AC traction system. Then what prevents them from adopting it in Hyderabad? How can they claim this metro to be eco-friendly? If not adopted, then what is the latest about this metro when they are adopting outdated technology? Strangely, they are citing the lack of engineers and safety of passengers as reasons. Both reasons appear false.

Imagine the streets of Hyderabad and the three corridors criss-crossing the city over the flyovers and railway lines. At three places, the metro corridors themselves have to cross over each other (Ameerpet, Patny and Kothi). Elevated corridors passing over the electric lines above another corridor! At four places over the flyovers (Greenlands, Punjagutta, Nalgonda cross roads, HiTec city). At eight places or so, they have to cross railway bridges, the prominent one being at Malakpet.

Imagine at what heights will the electric lines be? And in the thickly built streets, is it not dangerous for the residences abutting the corridors (at 30 ft away) from those electric cables? Doesn’t this indicate that Hyd metro will be the ugliest metro in India? Isn’t it also true that the concerned officials have been hoodwinking the public about its socalled ‘state of the art’ technology?

We have been arguing from the beginning that this metro is being built on lies and false claims. We assure you again that we will prove right in the coming period also.

Read more on this in the TOI news item:

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIH/2013/01/06&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00201&ViewMode=HTML

High Court stays works on a key stretch of Metro Corridor-3

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday stayed the execution of all works of the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) pertaining to corridor three between Greenlands and Shilparamam. The stay orders were given by Justice L. Narasimha Reddy, who was hearing a writ petition filed by a group of affected people who formed a Joint Action Committee. Their contention was that the metro rail alignment in respect of Ameerpet-Greenlands stretch was realigned without consulting the people whose properties would have to be demolished.

Some of the excerpts relevant points from the judgment are - 

- The effort of the HMR appears to be, to shield or immunise itself from any plausible objections, and unfortunately the State, in its anxiety to spread a red-carpet to a private agency, has chosen to violate and break the law, enacted by itself.

- It is not out of place to mention that the very purpose of enacting the A.P. Tramways Act was, keeping in view the present ‘Metro Railway Project’.  So much of urgency was felt that an ordinance was issued and later on, it became an Act.

- Metro Rail was granted on earlier occasion in favour of an agency, in a similar clandestine manner, keeping the entire project away from public scrutiny.  At least when its decision turned out to be a blunder, it ought to have been careful and followed the procedure prescribed under the relevant provisions of law.

- Acceptance of the contention of the respondents would lead to disastrous consequences.  A scheme, which involves transfer of vast extents of Government land, acquisition of large number of private properties, dislocation of the road transport system for a considerable time, conferring of the largesse of a high magnitude upon a private agency, cannot take place without reference to any public opinion.  

(Note: we will upload the judgment copy soon - C.R)

Corridor 3 works halted by High Court

Halt ‘corridor three' metro rail works, says court

HYDERABAD, February 11, 2012,

The State government on Friday gave an undertaking before Justice L. Narasimha Reddy of the Andhra Pradesh High Court that it would not proceed with any construction activity relating to Alignment III of the Metro Rail in the city that passes through the areas from Greenlands to Yousufguda via Ameerpet and Srinagar Colony.The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by Greenlands, Ameerpet, Madhuranagar, Yousufguda, SriKrishna Nagar Joint Action Committee and 20 others.

They contended that the proposed route for the third corridor was prepared without regard to the efficacy of the alternative route initially approved/tentatively decided for the said segment. Counsel appearing for the petitioners said that the authorities were not filing their response before the court on the one hand, and, on the other, proceeding with work on the field.

The pleader represeting the State government assured the Hight Court that the government would not carry out any operations until it comes up with a counter affidavit in this regard.

Exposing the hollow claims of HMRL

In response to the Press Meet yesterday, the news item published in The Hindu today (30 Dec) quotes the HMR officials denying that flyovers would be built and new properties taken over. They claimed that only junction improvements will be done. We released another statement today nailing their lies, and the MOU clearly talks about "grade separators/flyovers". The statement is given below:

Press Release (30 Dec 2011)

The Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) officials are trying to hoodwink the public by saying that there is no plan to build flyovers but only junction improvements (in a section of the media, 30 December 2011). They will get exposed badly in the coming days.

1.      Item 14 of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by MD of HMR Mr. NVS Reddy with Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MORTH), Government of India clearly uses the terms “grade separators/flyovers” to be built “simultaneously along with the construction of the metro viaduct, by HMRL at their cost” and then mentions the 11 junctions where such “grade separators/flyovers” have to be built. It is true that a grade separator can be an underpass or a flyover. Building underpasses at these busy and crowded junctions means taking up tunneling work which is not going to be an easy task at all. THE ONLY OTHER OPTION IS TO BUILD FLYOVERS.

For the JNTU junction the MOU clearly specifies that the “grade separator to be extended upto Nizampet junction on Pune side and Usha Mullapudi junction towards Hyderabad side”. Are we to believe that the HMRL will do tunneling for an underpass in this stretch? If not, what else can it be other than a flyover? And IT HAS TO BE PARALLEL to the Metro Corridor. It can’t be otherwise. So is the case with other junctions. Whom are the HMRL officials trying to fool?

Is the HMRL planning to do tunneling for underpasses at Maithrivanam (Ameerpet, where metro corridors 1 & 3 intersect above the road), Khairatabad and Mozamjahi Market? If so, why can’t they come out with full facts?

2. Another big lie being told by the HMRL officials is that no properties are going to be acquired for this corridor. 

The Annexure-II of the MOU clearly provides the details of properties to be acquired. Beginning from Miyapur to L.B.Nagar it identifies five stretches and provides the number of properties (302) and their area (51,843.9 sq.mts) on the Right Side, and on the Left Side (375 properties worth 63,136.9 sq.mts). That means a total of 677 properties (worth 114,981 sq.mts of area) have to be demolished along this corridor for road widening so that metro corridors and the flyovers can be built.

3.      Item 19 of the MOU says: “In case, the above mentioned measures in toto are not implemented by HMRL at their own expense, this Agreement/MOU will cease to exist”.

So, what next? Can HMRL escape from the MOU if it has to take up works on this corridor?

It is amazing to see the eagerness of the metro officials to ‘debate’ with public and claims of their transparency. Even under RTI Act, they refused to provide the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of the metro project. What a sham transparency?

It is also amazing to see the HMRL officials claim a monopoly of knowledge on Hyderabad’s traffic and its future. That most of them came from other govt departments, from sanitation to accounts, on deputation with hardly any prior experience on city transportation speaks volumes about their knowledge over the city.

Hyderabad is not Dubai, it is meaningless to compare them. It is a shame to compare it with London. European cities have given highest priority to pedestrians and cyclists. What to talk of Hyderabad on these parameters?

Ever since the metro project came to fore, the BRTS has been practically shelved/killed and not a rupee allocated to the MMTS (local trains) phase-II that should have been completed in 2005 and benefitted millions of people. And they talk about the present and future of traffic in Hyderabad?

We will continue to expose the destructive nature of this project in all its dimensions in the coming days.

Sd/-

1.      Dr. C. Ramachandraiah, Social Scientist, Convenor, Citizens for Better Public Transportation in Hyderabad

2.      Shri B. Ramakrishna Raju, Convenor, National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM), Andhra Pradesh

3.      Mr. O.M. Debara, General Secretary, Forum For a Better Hyderabad (FBH)

11 New Flyovers on Metro Corridor 1

Citizens for a Better Public Transport in Hyderabad

(A coalition of civil society organizations and individuals)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Press Release - 29 December 2011

A disaster is waiting to happen on the Metro Corridor-I (Miyapur-L.B Nagar) - Prevent it and Save this city

The conditions stipulated by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MORTH), Government of India, for the Miyapur-LB Nagar route on National Highway-9 (Metro corridor 1) and accepted by the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between them on 18^th October 2011 are going to devastate Hyderabad city. It appears like the HMR authorities have not paid any thought to their implementability and their devastating impact on the city at all.

The metro itself is an elevated corridor for 29 km with 27 stations at 50-70 feet above the road on this corridor. It’s like a flyover from one end to the other end of the city. And then imagine building 11 new flyovers simultaneously along the same road in parallel direction of the metro. And two rail under bridges (RuBs) at Malakpet. At least 25-30 feet gap has to be left between the flyovers and the metro corridor. Is this possible on Hyderabad roads? Imagine the untold hardships that the citizens will be subjected to.

The new flyovers to be built are at –

1.      JNTU junction (Kukatpally) which should be extended upto Nizampet cross road on one side and Usha Mullapudi junction on the other.

2.      Godrej Y-junction (Kukatpallly)

3.      S.R. Nagar

4.      Maithrivanam (Ameerpet)

5.      Khairatabad junction

6.      Mozamjahi Market

7.      Moosarambagh junction

8.      Gaddiannaram junction

9.      Dilsukhnagar junction

10.  Chaitanyapuri junction

11.  Kothapet junction

Can anyone think of constructing flyovers and metro corridors at Maithrivanam (Ameerpet, where metro corridors 1 & 3 have to intersect above the road), Khairatabad and Mozamjahi Market? The M.J.Market is a historic heritage monument. Can it withstand such constructions in close vicinity?

Further, as per the MOU, 677 properties (worth 114,981 sq.mts of area) have to be demolished along this corridor for road widening so that metro corridors and the flyovers can be built.

Completion of a flyover in the busy streets takes 2-3 years even with precast building methods. If the metro corridor 1 of 29 km with 27 stations has to be taken up along with these new 11 flyovers, can they be completed in 4 years?

What do they want to do this city? Is the city meant only for cars, construction companies and contractors? The HMR and L&T seem to be playing hide & seek with the public regarding the true face of the metro in this corridor.

We demand that the L&T should make public the designs of the stations, including the metro intersection points, and the new flyovers. Even today the public are kept in dark about these hard realities. What else can you call this if not a scandal? Will the political parties take note of this?

Unless these issues are resolved, the metro works should be stopped immediately until these issues are resolved.  

Sd/-

1.      Dr. C. Ramachandraiah, Social Scientist, Convenor, Citizens for Better Public Transportation in Hyderabad

2.      Shri B. Ramakrishna Raju, Convenor, National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM), Andhra Pradesh

3.      Mr. O.M. Debara, General Secretary, Forum For a Better Hyderabad (FBH)

Traders prevent L&T staff on Metro works

Great news. That is an indication for future. "Until their interests are taken into consideration, they will disrupt any work related to the metro project" is the warning of the traders. If govt thinks they can bulldoze thousands of shops, people won't take it lying down. L&T, better watch out and get out of this project.

Traders disrupt metro rail work at Ameerpet

Times of India, Hyderabad, Dec 3, 2011.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Traders-disrupt-metro-rail-work-at-Ameerpet/articleshow/10964249.cms

HYDERABAD: Officials of L&T who started the initial inspection work at Greenlands, Ameerpet on Friday for the Hyderabad metro project, were forced to leave the site within a few minutes by protesting local traders. The officials who had started surveying the area at around 11:30 am were soon confronted with the members of the trader community of Ameerpet who questioned their presence since they had obtained a stay order from court. 

"The stay order issued by the high court does not permit any project-related work to start here. This is nothing but contempt of court," said A N Shankar, president, Anti-Metro Rail Project Ameerpet JAC. 

The protestors did not allow the officials to carry out any inspection and forced them to leave the site. They said no work can be taken up until the matter is settled in court. The surveyors soon left the site. Traders had moved the court against the metro corridor passing through Ameerpet demanding to know why its original plan through Punjagutta was changed.

B Gopal, a protesting trader of the area, who is also losing a significant portion of his property to the project said, "The proposed road widening in this area has no uniform pattern on either side of the road. The project officials and the government should hold transparent discussions with us and only after that they should go ahead with the project. How can they ignore us when we have been an integral part of this area and our life revolves around it?" Another protesting trader C H Naveen threatened that until their interests are taken into consideration, they will disrupt any work related to the metro project.

L&T getting jittery over Metro Rail

L&T getting jittery over Metro Rail

Co. May Ditch Project Over Land Acquisition Delay

B Krishna Prasad, Times of India, Hyderabad, 15 Oct,2011.

A very interesting and also an encouraging news to the activists the top headline item that appeared on the Times of India, Hyderabad on  15 October 2011 probably reflects the current state of affairs regarding the Hyd metro rail project, and the frustration of the L&T company in executing the same. The news item says, among other things, - 

-       “several reasons like delay in land acquisition and pressure by local politicians for sub-contracts, for forcing it to re-consider going ahead with the project”.

-        Independent director of L&T “complained to the government over the inordinate delay in the handing over of 269 acres of land as agreed upon in the agreement”.

-       “facing pressure from several local politicians to allocate subcontracts to parties of their choice”.

-       “the government penalty to L&T for the delay in the project stands at nearly Rs 60 crore”. 

-       L&T is "paying huge interest for the loans it secured from various banks after the financial closure for the project in March 2011”.

-       L&T is "annoyed with the day-today interference in the execution of the project by HMR managing director N V S Reddy”.

-       L&T team has been seeking an appointment with the Chief Minister for the past one month "but has been unsuccessful so far”.

Full item is given below:

Hyderabad: Construction giant Larsen & Toubro, the private promoter of the Hyderabad Metro Rail project, has stated several reasons like delay in land acquisition and pressure by local politicians for sub-contracts, for forcing it to re-consider going ahead with the project.
    Independent director of Larsen & Toubro Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited, a subsidiary and a special purpose vehicle of the L&T Infrastructure Development Projects, and retired IAS officer Sheila Bhide, recently complained to the government over the inordinate delay in the handing over of 269 acres of land as agreed upon in the agreement. "Apart from land acquisition, we are facing pressure from several local politicians to allocate subcontracts to parties of their choice," said sources in the company.
    According to the sources, the land acquisition process is the main reason for L&T having second thoughts about the project. As per the agreement, the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project (HMR), a government body, has to acquire the land for the project and hand it over to L&T. HMR in turn has entrusted the land acquisition job to GHMC. The 71.16 km-long rail project is to be constructed on three corridors, Miyapur-LB Nagar (28.87 km), Jubilee bus Station-Falaknuma
(14.78 km) and Nagole-Shilparamam (27.51 km) at a cost of Rs 12,132 crore and L&T bagged it in global bids floated by the state government after the project was cancelled, after Maytas the original promoter went bust post the Ramalinga Raju scam.
    But as of date, the land acquisition process has not made any progress in areas including the Purani Haveli Road-Shalibanda stretch in Old City, the Greenlands-Ameerpet-Madhuranagar-Krishna Nagar stretch, Country Club at Greenlands (where a station is supposed to be located), Prakash Nagar, Begumpet (parallel to the old airport flyover), from Punjagutta to Lakdi-ka-pul and Madhapur. “This is not surprisng because the project had been envisioned by Ramalinga Raju as a realtyled one. After it went phut, the government should have reviewed the project and changed the routes. But it did not do so. Everbody knew that there would be land acqusition problems,” an analyst said.
    To speed up the land acquisition, the government set up a committee comprising the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) additional commissioner (development planning) K Dhananjaya Reddy, deputy collector for land acquisition, the executive engineer of the respective corridor and the Hyderabad Metro Rail general manager for land management. But even that has not helped in speeding up the land acquisition process. 

L&T paying huge interest on loans 
    “We are also concerned over the delay in the land acquisition process,” B Sam Bob, principal secretary, municipal administration, told TOI.
    Because of the delay in the land acquisition process, the L&T management is paying huge interest for the loans it secured from various banks after the financial closure for the project in March 2011. L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd has already submitted a performance guarantee of Rs 360 crore to the state government. A consortium of 10 banks led by SBI has sanctioned the entire debt requirement of Rs 11,480 crore and the equity component of around Rs 3,440 crore would be infused by the L&T group for the project.
    The state should also have reasons to worry over the delay in the project, as if it does not hand over 90% of the land to the private promoter within 90 days of the payment of Performance Surety, the state would have to shell out Rs 36 lakh per day of delay in the project. The penalty clause came into effect on May 5 this year, and as of date, the government penalty to L&T for the delay in the project stands at nearly Rs 60 crore.
    “Execution of the Metro Rail project is a highly skilled work and any deviation from the quality norms would doom it. Some works involving non-skilled activity can be given to local contractors, but not the major ones as is being demanded,” said the sources in the company. L&T is also reportedly annoyed with the day-today interference in the execution of the project by HMR managing director N V S Reddy.
    To bring all these issues to the notice of chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, an L&T team has been seeking an appointment with him for the past one month but has been unsuccessful so far. Miffed by the indifferent response, the company recently asked a senior cabinet minister to prevail over Kiran Kumar and ensure that he meets the company’s representatives. According to the minister, the CM assured him that he would meet the L&T team after the ongoing Telangana strike ends.

Growing resistance to the metro rail

Bandh against Metro Rail Corridor-III total

S. Bachan Jeet Singh, The New Indian Express, 15 Oct 2011

HYDERABAD: Slogans of ‘Metro rail should go underground’, ‘Say no to metro rail and save our businesses and families’ and ‘Metro rail is a real estate business and Hyderabadis don’t want such a project’ rented the air when hundreds of businessmen of Greenlands, Krishna Nagar, Yousufguda, Madhura Nagar and other places took out a massive rally in the city on Friday after observing a total trade bandh against the proposed Metro Rail Corridor-III route. The Metro Rail Corridor- III between Nagole and Shilparamam, covers Greenlands, Krishna Nagar, Yousufguda, Madhura Nagar and other areas. For the full item, go to -

http://expressbuzz.com/cities/hyderabad/bandh-against-metro-rail-corridor-iii-total/323637.html

Shops shut down at Ameerpet-Greenlands Road
(Photo by C. R, 14 Oct 2011)

City traders’ bandh against Metro Rail

Times of India, Hyderabad, 15 October 2011

TRS which has been demanding a change in the metro rail plan at Sultan Bazaar, participated in the protest at Ameerpet with party MLA K Tarakarama Rao and its politburo member D Shravan Kumar joining the traders. The leaders promised traders that they will take up the matter at an all-party meeting. A N Shankar, a trader from Ameerpet said, “Hundreds of families will get affected due to this project and it is time the government took a serious note of it. This is nothing but discrimination against small-time traders.” He added, “It is surprising that there was no debate or discussion on this project by the government.”  R Sayanna, a resident of Krishnanagar who has been actively opposing the metro rail project said, “If there are underground metro routes in several countries, why can’t it be here. This is more of a real estate business than a metro rail project.” Another protestor N Kumar from Krishnanagar said that this was only the beginning of the agitation and in future if the problem is not resolved they would not let metro work begin.

Protest meeting at Ameerpet cross roads (Photo by C.R)

Hyderabad: Total bandh was observed by traders at Ameerpet, Madhuranagar, Yousufguda and Krishnanagar on Friday against the proposed metro rail corridor that would go through this stretch. Traders held protest rallies and demanded that the government either opt for an underground corridor or change its route. Hundreds of shops remained closed along the stretch through the day and the protesting traders were joined by the local residents who extended support to them.  

Metro - Boon or Bane?

Metro conundrum By Kingshuk Nag (The Times of India, Hyderabad, 29 July 2011)

Will Hyderabad’s proposed metro be a boon or a bane? Opinion is divided on this issue. Though when the project was first conceived most people were enthusiastic and saw in the metro rail a symbol of development that Hyderabad was aspiring for, these days there are a lot who are apprehensive. “How many times will I have to give up land? First they took some land away from me for road expansion. Now they will want land for metro rail. Is this fair?” asked a businessman with an outlet on SP Road. “As it is, the traffic is bad on Begumpet road. What will happen when the metro works begins? How long will I take to reach office from home and vice versa” asks an executive who lives in Habsiguda and works in Banjara Hills. “The entire commercial area of Ameerpet will be destroyed apart from Sultan Bazar. The whole city will be disfigured. What we will have after metro rail will be Hyderabad in some other form,” says a heritage activist. These are all valid points. 

But equally troubled are the prime contractors of the project, the well known Larsen & Toubro. Though the financial closure of the project happened in early March and the company deposited a performance guarantee of Rs 360 crore, the land required for the project is not being made available to them. Naturally, the government is unable to persuade various agencies to part with land. L & T is worried because with each passing day its costs are escalating. The company has borrowed large sums from the market and will borrow more. The interest burden on the borrowed portion is increasing and with the rates hardening, future borrowings will be more costly. As per the concession agreement with L & T, the government has to pay a hefty penalty for every day’s delay in handing over the 269 acres of land at various places that it has to the company. A huge amount is already due to L & T on this account. But L & T knows that the state’s exchequer is empty and it is not a position to pay up. 
 

Kiran Kumar Reddy garu, when asked on this question, is very sensitive. “All decisions have been taken, we are going ahead,” he says a trifle aggressively. The aggression may be to cover up the realization that he has been put in a spot by predecessor K Rosaiah. With the Satyam scam and collapse of Maytas, the metro rail project went phut. It also became clear that Ramalinga Raju had conceived the metro rail as a real estate project than an urban transportation venture. This was a golden opportunity for Rosaiah. He could have realigned the routes of the project to take into account concerns now being raised. But instead of having a relook he blindly offered the same Maytas metro rail project to L & T (of course the financials changed). He obviously allowed himself to be persuaded by the same forces who were behind Raju. The result of the Rosaiah inaction is the mess we see. And this is just the beginning, what with the project now clearly taking a Telangana vs anti Telangana turn.