'Deliberate attempt to show Metro rail project in bad light'

The Telangana CMO issued a statement on Wednesday in response to media reports about L & T planning to stop work on the project due to some issues with the State Government.

The Telangana Government has alleged that a deliberate attempt was being made to show the Hyderabad Metro Rail project in a bad light. File photo shows the launch of Niz, the Mascot of the Hyderabad Metro Rail. Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

The Telangana Government has alleged that a deliberate attempt has been made to show the Hyderabad Metro Rail project in a bad light.

The Chief Minister’s Office issued a statement on Wednesday in response to media reports about L & T, the concessionaire for the Metro project, planning to stop works due to certain issues with the State Government.

The L & T Chief Executive Officer V. B. Gadgil called on the Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao and discussed the developments. Mr. Rao reviewed the progress of Metro rail project with L & T officials, Metro Rail project chief and Chief Secretary to Telangana Government.

The issue of reports in a section of the media, attempting to damage the interests of Telangana State came up for discussion. It was mentioned that though correspondence between L & T and HMR is a routine thing, select newspapers chose to publish the latest correspondence mischievously and in isolation.

It was felt in the review meeting that this is a deliberate attempt to project the Metro Rail project in a bad shape. The issue has however been resolved with the involvement of L & T CEO, HMR chief N.V.S.Reddy, and others

To take the project further forward and to take up the second phase of Metro Rail project, Advisor Papa Rao and Chief Secretary Rajiv Sarma will be going to Delhi to discuss with concerned officials. They are also likely to meet the officials of Government of India as well as obtain appropriate advice from acclaimed Metro Rail expert E. Sridharan.