PM to flag off Hyderabad metro tomorrow

Hyderabad has finally got its metro rail, five years after work started on the project, offering some relief to the city's commuters, who have been struggling to cope with growing traffic congestion.

The Hyderabad Metro Rail, which is also the country's first elevated metro rail on PPP (private public partnership) model, is finally ready to chug after a roller–coaster ride of a decade.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will inaugurate the first 30-km stretch of the Mega metro project on Tuesday.

''It will not only change travel patterns but also behavioural patterns of people in the Nizam's town,'' said NVS Reddy, MD of HMRL.

He project has weathered a number of hurdles, including over 200 court cases and the first 30-km stretch is ready a little over five years since work commenced.

Cyberabad traffic police has issued a traffic advisory for the commuters to avoid delay on 28 November as diversions will be in force between 3.00 pm and 4.30 pm.

Besides the Metro inauguration, other important events such as Global Entrepreneurship Summit will be held on 28 November and there will be frequent roadblocks due to movements of delegates.

Efforts are on to make it multi-modal - linking up with buses and also providing bicycles in select stations - a robust last-mile linkage in the catchment areas is crucial.

The metro fare, which was announced late on Saturday, has been the subject of much discussion. The minimum fare has been fixed at Rs10, and the maximum, Rs60. Some believe the base price should have been lower to be more inclusive.

The sale of Metro Smart cards for travel in metro rail services which will open to public on 29 November, also commenced at Nagole, Tarnaka, Prakashnagar and SR Nagar metro stations today.

Priced at Rs200, the cards include a deposit of Rs100 and the balance will be available for travel. The amount is rechargeable up to a maximum of Rs2,000 and valid for a period of 365 days. The cards can be renewed after a year.

A concession of 5 per cent has been allowed for commuters who use the smart cards, which were sold from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the four stations.

Tokens or Smart Cards can be purchased at any of the 24 Metro stations between Miyapur to Nagole (30 km). The L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) had released the fare structure on Saturday.

The project has overshot its deadline, and is expected to be fully ready (minus the 6 km stretch in the Old City) in 2019. The Rs14,132-crore project also faces a cost overrun of Rs3,500-4,500 crore.

For Hyderabad, which has emerged as one of the fastest growing metropolises in the country, the completion of the project is critical as its urban infrastructure is under severe stress.

L&T HMR has now sought a further extension of the deadline by a year or two along with the concession so that they can reap the benefits of their huge investments in the PPP. They have already projected the revenue as 40 per cent from passenger tariff, 50 per cent from malls and shops at Metro stations and only 10 per cent from advertisements over 30 years, ie, till 2047. ''As of now L&T has invested 90% of the project cost at Rs 13,000 crore and may have to put in more for the final stage,'' said an L&T spokesman.

The government of Telangana has provided land costing Rs300 crore while the centre has picked up 10 per cent stake for Rs1,458 crore. ''As on date, we have put in Rs9,000 crore, which includes Rs2,700 crore equity, Rs600 crore from VGF and the rest is debt,'' said J Ravikumar, chief financial officer of L&T MRHL.

L&T has made it conditional for extension of both deadline for construction and also the concession. The concession is for 35 years, including 5 years of construction period, which ended in June 2017. Only 30 kilometres have been completed in the scheduled 72 km and 42 km of construction activity remains, of which nearly 78 per cent of work is already complete. ''The developer has requested the government for extension of schedule for a year or two and it is under consideration of the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao,'' said Chief Secretary SP Singh.

L&T will have a tough task in building the Old City corridor of Metro Rail. As many as 145 heritage structures including 15 listed heritage structures have been identified, though the builders contend that it will pass through only nine heritage structures.