Expansion of Metro Rail delayed in rapidly expanding North Hyderabad, raises questions over future development.
In fact, on coming to power, the Congress government linked development promises with political priorities, particularly in view of the Cantonment elections. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had even laid foundation stones for an elevated corridor a few weeks before the election notification, but no progress has been made on it since then.
Hyderabad: North Hyderabad, one of the fastest-growing parts of the city with more than 30 lakh residents, is facing a major setback as the metro rail expansion promised for years continues to remain on hold. Despite rapid urbanization and growth as a key commercial hub, the region is yet to get the much-essential public transport infrastructure that it urgently deserves.
In all, the earlier BRS government had proposed IT parks, metro expansion, and elevated corridors to transform the area’s transport network. Though groundworks on some of the proposals had begun, land acquisition for major stretches, including the Paradise–Suchitra route and the JBS–Shamirpet corridor, was still incomplete. These projects had originally been estimated to cost nearly ₹ 3,000 crore.
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In fact, on coming to power, the Congress government linked development promises with political priorities, particularly in view of the Cantonment elections. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had even laid foundation stones for an elevated corridor a few weeks before the election notification, but no progress has been made on it since then.
The residents contend that though population density and commercial activities are increasing dramatically, infrastructure development in North Hyderabad has failed to catch up with it. Even the much-publicized double-decker elevated corridor, which was to cater to both a road and metro line on a single pillar system, has become uncertain. The Congress government, after coming to office, revised the project design and declared that a road-cum-metro on the same pillars is “technically infeasible,” further casting doubts on metro connectivity in the region.
Though the state government promptly sent a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for metro expansion to the Centre, the Union government is yet to approve it. Since the clearance is nowhere in sight, the project effectively stalled.
Members of the North City Metro Sadhana Samithi are warning that the absence of metro expansion could severely hamper growth in the area. According to them, without metro connectivity, the dream of developing North Hyderabad into a full-fledged core city will remain beyond reach, labeling the delay “a curse” for development in the region.
