Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao reiterated his demand that the alignment of prestigious Hyderabad Metro project should be changed at three places as a mark of respect to the historical and religious places and sentiments of the people.
At a review meeting with the officials of the Hyderabad Metro Rail Corporation and l&T Company on Tuesday, Chief Minister pointed out that that if the project was implemented according to the present alignment in the old city of Hyderabad, it will affect seven Hindu temples, 28 mosques and shrines and will require demolition of thousands of houses.
Akbaruddin Owaisi, MIM floor leader in the State Assembly was also present in the meeting to brief the officials about the consequences of such a massive demolition in the old city.
The Chief Minister asked the officials to implement the project without such a massive displacement. He also underlined the realignment of the project at the State Assembly as the Telangana Martyrs Memorial was coming in the way of the project. To ensure that the memorial was not affected the metro line should be taken from behind the Assembly building.
In case of Sultan Bazar area, where the traders were opposing the demolition of the market, the Chief Minister said that the route should be changed and taken from behind the Women's College at Kothi and should run along the Musi river to go towards the Imlibun bus stand.
Though a broad agreement was reached at a meeting between the State Government and l&T officials earlier this month and the State Government had offered to compensate the company for the losses caused by the realignment, the l&T has not yet fully agreed to these proposals.