Delay in land acquisition for providing the right of way is among the several reasons cited by the concessionaire, L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) when it wrote a stinging letter to the Hyderabad Metro Rail authorities and the Telangana government last week raising doubts about the project viability.
Apart from court cases, the passage of the Land Acquisition Act-2013 has come as a big handicap for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) which has been entrusted with the task of acquiring properties in the city to widen roads as part of the project and master plan.
Though the new Act has been widely publicised, relevant rules are yet to be framed and a lot of activity related to the same has been pending that obstruct its applicability now. But, already several property owners have been demanding compensation under the new Act.
“Till now we have been facing resistance from some property owners apart from issues such as lack of clarity on titles and legal entanglements. Now, this is another factor confronting us,” said an official, seeking anonymity.
In the corridor-1 between Miyapur and L.B.Nagar, 225 of the listed 421 properties have been acquired so far and with 11 caught in court cases, 27 other properties await conclusion of enquiries. “For almost 60 properties, the cheques are under preparation and the process is being pursued actively at our end for the remaining ones,” an official of the GHMC said.
On the corridor-2 between JBS and Falaknuma, 479 properties have been identified and of these, 311 have already been acquired with 49 others being in award stage which the officials hope to conclude in the next few days. Two properties here have ended up in court cases.
For the project, 41 of the needed 285 properties on corridor-3 between Nagole and Shilparamam were already handed over and 10 others were in award stage with cheques being prepared for 17 others, officials said.
The land acquisition for Metro Rail at Krishnanagar had ended up in the courts and with hearings over, the GHMC officials said they were waiting for judgement. Similar were the issues faced at Madhuranagar and some properties at Madhapur.
Special Deputy Collector (LA) K.Shankara Chary said land acquisition was completed to a large extent between Narayanguda and Musheerabad and almost completed at Bharatnagar, Moosapet and Kukatpally. “The process is actively on between Ameerpet and Erragadda and also enroute Shilparamam,” he added.
