Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has promised that the extension of the Metro rail network in the Old City will be completed by the next elections. He stated that he would ask for votes for the Congress party in the Chandrayangutta Assembly constituency only after fulfilling this promise.
During the Assembly session on Saturday, in response to Akbaruddin Owaisi’s demand for a Metro Rail line in the Old City, Revanth emphasized that the ‘Old City’ is actually the ‘original city.’ He mentioned that the planned Airport Metro rail from LB Nagar to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad will pass through Chandrayangutta in the Old City.
Revanth highlighted that it was the Congress government that initiated the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project. He credited former union minister for urban development, S Jaipal Reddy, for providing the necessary funds to make the project viable.
The Congress government laid the foundation stone for the Metro Rail in the Old City soon after coming to power. They have submitted a report to the Centre for the second phase of the metro rail project, which extends the metro rail-line by 78 km. Revanth assured that the Congress government would complete the project regardless of whether the Centre funds it or not.
Revanth accused the previous BRS government of delaying the Old City Metro by 10 years. He alleged that the BRS tried to design the Airport Metro from Hitech City to Shamshabad airport in a way that benefited real estate businessmen whose lands were on that route.
He claimed that the BRS designed the metro to cover areas that didn’t need it, and thus cheated the people of the Old City. Once Congress came to power, they redesigned the Airport Metro in the metro phase-II and started the land acquisition for the second phase. Revanth added that they have been holding discussions with L&T about the metro rail in the Old City.
