Shabbir Ali has doubts on metro rail connectivity in Old City

 HYDERABAD: TPCC political affairs committee (PAC) convener Mohammed Ali Shabbir questioned the sincerity of the state government in providing metro rail connectivity to the Old City.

Shabbir Ali said that issue of land acquisition notices in a month was a tactic to delay the project until the announcement of the Assembly elections so that it could benefit its ally AIMIM in the elections.

The senior Congress leader said in a statement here on Monday that although allocations of Rs 500 crore were twice made in the annual budget for the metro rail connectivity in the Old City, till date no agreement had been signed between the government and HMRL. He wondered how HMRL could start construction works without a detailed project report (DPR). The estimated cost of the project is over Rs 2,000 crore.

He said that the Congress government had initially approved a 72-km phase-1 metro project, which included a corridor connecting MGBS with Falaknuma, a 5.5 km stretch on the green line. However, the BRS government halted the Old City corridor while completing the rest of the 67 km and commencing operations.

Expressing doubts about the progress of the project, he raised concerns that the state government might create legal complications to halt the project.