The approval of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the second phase of the Hyderabad Metro will take some time due to the delay of the Central cuts, delay in sending requested reports and information and the negligence of officials.
Inaganti Ravi Kumar, a senior journalist, said that proposals for the second phase of Metro i.e. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to Lakdikapul (26 km) and Nagole to LB Nagar extension (5 km) have been prepared and sent to the Centre in November 2018 at a cost of Rs 8,453 crore. However, the Union government did not move for three years due to a lack of coordination between the Centre and the Department of Urban Affairs. The Union government has to send information on 15 issues and the DPR was to be approved only on December 1, 2022, including the feeder system to correct feasibility as the ridership is low.
“At that time, many BRS leaders including Minister KT Rama Rao blamed the Centre on the same issue. The Minister has said that he had written a letter to Union Minister Haridas Singh Puri asking him to approve the DPR,” he added.
Vikash Kumar, Under Secretary to the government and CPIO said, “I have enquired the Union Ministry of Urban Affairs at what stage the approval of the current Metro phase is and the proposal is in the appraisal stage. However, no funds have been allocated in the 2023-2024 budget and no agency has been selected for the 60 per cent loan.”
Approval for 2nd phase of Hyd Metro may be delayed
The veteran journalist also said that the Telangana State government has provided him the copies of letters regarding the issues asked by the Centre. On December 1, 2022, the Centre asked the State government to send the information. However, the latter sent some information on February 28, 2023, and the remaining information to the Centre on August 8, 2023. On September 22, Peak Hour Peak Direction District (PHPDT) will increase to 21260 in BHEL-Lakdikapul by 2031 and 31,240 to 20,651 by 2041 and 36,873 by 2041, adding that the Union government has approved Metros with lower PHPDT than the proposed BHL corridor in some cities. But the Telangana government sent the copy of the approval of the State DCabinet and its decision in August this year. It has also sent copies of the letter setting up the Urban Transport Fund (UTF) under HMDA in July 2023 to cover three per cent of charges under contingency.
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