The Andhra Pradesh government today took a strong exception to the contents of the letter written by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) managing director E Sreedharan on the Hyderabad Metro Rail project to Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Municipal administration and urban development department principal secretary CVSK Sarma and Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) managing director NVS Reddy today demanded an unconditional apology from Sreedharan and said they would take legal measures for defamation if he did not respond.
Sreedharan, credited with the implementation of the Delhi Metro project, remarked in the letter that the negative viability gap funding in the case of HMR project has resulted solely on account of 296 acres of prime land being made available to the BOT operator for commercial exploitation. He felt 'this might lead to a big political scandal some time later.'
He said it was apparent the BOT operator has a hidden agenda which appears to be to extend the metro network to a large tract of his private land holdings so as to reap a windfall profit of 4 to 5 times the land price.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Sarma said that DMRC has been a party to the whole process and that Sreedharan has never objected to or advised the GoAP against the BOT route.
''The allegations are baseless and created doubts in the minds of the people about this project and hurt the interests of GoAP and HMR project,'' Sarma said adding that HMR project has been structured as a BOT project in tune with the recommendations of DMRC in the detailed project report (DPR) and with the approval of Government of India.
The Draft Concession Agreement brought out the scope for commercial exploitation of air space over land being provided to the BOT developer, as per the DPR prepared by DMRC.
''You seem to have changed your stand for reasons best known to you,'' Sarma said adding that Sreedharan, by his letter, tried to oppose the policy shift in favour of developing metro rail projects under BOT model by ''making misleading insinuations about future likely development.''
On equating the state government making 296 acre land available to the BOT developer for commercial exploitation selling 'family silver', Sarma said GoAP has not given any right to the BOT developer for sale of either the land or even a square foot of the built up area.
''DMRC is in fact giving away prime land taken for the project from various government and other agencies for property development by real estate developers,'' Sarma added.
The developer should return the land and the built of area back to the state government at the end of the concession period of 35 years. The project is extendable by another 25 years, he explained.
The decision on the future expansion of the metro network was the prerogative of the government.
''It is inappropriate (on your part) and wrong to presume that the state government would allow local manipulations,'' the HMR chief said clarifying to the 'hidden agenda of extending the metro network to private lands'.
DMRC had calculated that if commercial exploitation of the land was not allowed, the viability gap funding would have been in the order of Rs 10,000, Sarma said.
Later, DMRC in a release said that ''DMRC neither smelt a scam in the way that the BOT contract was awarded for the Hyderabad Metro nor did Sreedharan say that the BOT model would backfire.''
Sreedharan, the release said, had however pointed out that Hyderabad’s success in BOT model should not be cited as an argument for changing the policy of the government for funding metro projects in the country.
