Rs 4,500-crore MMTS project report under way

With a total vehicle population of 15 lakh and one lakh vehicles being added every year, roads in Hyderabad are congested, the only way out to ease the congestion and also provide affordable is the metro system, he said on this occasion.

Responding to the union minister's suggestion, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who inaugurated the second phase of MMTS, said that growing vehicular traffic had left the situation unchanged despite a massive road-widening exercise and building of new flyovers built at huge costs. Naidu said that the state government was actively thinking of creating the metro rail project in this back drop.

"The MMTS would be linked to the metro rail project which in turn would be connected with the existing ring-roads and eight-lane roads being planned in a 110-km radius around the city. The government will fully concentrate on developing this for the state capital and surrounding municipalities and towns," the chief minister said.

The second stream of MMTS between Secunderabad and Falaknuma, which would provide access to the people of old city will cover a distance of 14.54 with eleven stations.

With the already available infrastructure, the cost for execution of MMTS was only about Rs 4 crore per km, which is considered to be the most cost effective transport systems built on these lines. The second phase will cost about Rs 26.42 crore.

The MMTS project has been conceived as a joint venture between the central and the state government. An MoU was signed in September 2000.

The project envisages sharing of costs by the railways and the state government on an equal basis. The sanctioned cost of Phase-1 of the project is Rs 69.65 crore for strengthening of rail infrastructure. The state government has deposited its share of Rs 34.98 crore.