If L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) is building the metro rail project with piers, viaduct, rails and running the trains, the government special purpose vehicle - Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMR), which is supervising the work, has been involved in transformation of street level civic infrastructure.
Apart from the 30 km inaugural route between Nagole-Ameerpet-Miyapur, HMR was tasked with building ‘world class’ end-to-end spacious footpaths, storm water and table drains between Jubilee Hills check post till Hi-Tec City stations, converting Road No. 36 Jubilee Hills into a ‘high street’.
Laying designer tiles, paver blocks, planter boxes with trees to provide shade and ornamental plants, parking bays, safety railings would be installed as part of the initiative. “We had to demolish several posh buildings and encroachments on the road that were built in violation of the sanctioned road widths to provide quality public space of eight ft to 22 ft for the pedestrians’ benefit to maintain a uniform carriageway of four lanes for the five km each on either side of the road,” explained MD N.V.S. Reddy.
“It is time we reorient the city infrastructure for the common folk including women, children and the disabled rather than for cars. HMR endeavour is to provide amenities in that direction by having good footpaths and signages,” he said, interacting with presspersons.
The challenge was to build seamless footpaths on an undulating terrain with multiple entry and exits for various buildings on the route, address water stagnation by building saucer drains and removing encroachments over drains. The government has allotted ₹5 crore for the work, but HMR intends to repay the money by raising resources through advertisements and giving space for kiosks.
“Tenders will be finalised in a month and a half so that the the amenities developed in 2.56 lakh sq.ft public space are maintained through funds generated from rentals. We will be completing the entire stretch shortly before the metro rail section towards Hi-Tec City is launched in October,” he said.
The MD later opened ‘Flavours of Taj Mahal’, inside the L&TMRH’s newly developed ‘Hyderabad Next Galleria’ mall spreading over two lakh sq. ft.
