The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) will now have to part with 2.5 acres of its land at Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) to facilitate construction of Hyderabad Metro Rail’s (HMR) interchange station.
HMR authorities have approached the RTC seeking the land for construction of an interchange station on the Jubilee Bus Station- Falaknuma metro route. The proposed facility would be one of the three interchange stations, while the rest of them are likely to be constructed at Parade Grounds and Ameerpet. HMR authorities wanted 2.5 acres of land near platform No.1 at MGBS where presently RTC operates a fuel-filling facility on the station premises.
In lieu of the land sanctioned to HMR, they have promised to allot same extent of land abutting the nearby GHMC Park on the Salar Jung Museum road. The corporation has in principle agreed to part with the land and final decision is expected to be taken shortly, said a senior RTC official. “Besides fuel filling facility, we also operate long-distance buses to Vijayawada, Khammam and other places from the space desired by HMR. Given the space constraint at the station, it would be quite a task to shift the services to other platforms,” said the official.
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The MGBS is spread over 27 acres and as per the plan presented by HMR authorities, they would be developing an elevated station comprising four floors. While HMR would be utilising the space on three floors, the ground floor would be marked for RTC, he informed.