Metro corridor expansion gains pace in Hyderabad's Old City, pillar marking begins: Official

he proposed metro rail corridor between MGBS and Chandrayangutta in the Old City here has gained momentum, with pillar marking underway and road-widening activities progressing steadily, Hyderabad Airport Metro Limited managing director N V S Reddy said on Sunday.

He added that the metro alignment has been carefully planned to optimise the route while minimising the number of affected properties.

"Daily review meetings are being held with engineering and revenue officials to closely monitor progress," Reddy said in a release.


He noted that the initial estimate of 1,100 affected properties was reduced to around 900 through engineering redesign and realignment efforts. So far, awards have been issued for 412 properties, and demolition has been completed for 380 of them.

Compensation amounting to Rs 360 crore has already been disbursed to affected property owners.

A detailed action plan has been prepared to expedite the acquisition of the remaining properties and complete demolitions swiftly, he added.

On the construction front, Reddy said preparatory work for the metro project has commenced. Locations for the metro pillars-spaced roughly 25 metres (about 82 feet) apart-have been identified, and ground marking is in progress.

A geotechnical agency has been engaged to carry out soil bearing capacity tests for the stations and viaduct pillars. A Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) survey has also been completed to finalise pillar and station locations while avoiding disturbance to historical or sensitive structures.

Temporary Benchmark (TBM) points have been established to aid survey and construction during the execution phase.

Reddy further stated that arrangements are being made to shift underground sewerage, water pipelines, stormwater drains, and overhead power lines in areas where pillars and stations will come up.

In line with Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's directives, all overhead electricity lines along the corridor will be converted to underground cabling, he added.