HYDERABAD: October 15, the deadline set for itself by the Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd, has come and gone but the work on two of the corridors remains incomplete.Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited and L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited planned to complete the work on the 13-km-long Miyapur-Ameerpet stretch of Corridor-I and the 17-km-long Ameerpet-Nagole stretch of Corridor-III by Sunday but it may take a few more weeks for them to complete works such as electrification and signalling, station development, development of parking spaces, passenger circulation areas and greenery along central medians.
L&TMRHL is said to have deployed additional manpower to complete the pending works at the earliest as the said stretches under construction would be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 28.Safety tests and trial runs from Begumpet to Ameerpet and SR Nagar to Ameerpet have to be carried out once the interchange station at Ameerpet gets ready. The necessary approvals for commercial operations between Nagole and Mettuguda (8 km) and between Miyapur and SR Nagar (12 km) have already been obtained.
Track, electrification and signalling works on the Begumpet-Ameerpet and Ameerpet-SR Nagar stretches are going on and, after completion of the works, the statutory inspection of Overhead Electric Traction System (OETS) has to be conducted for energisation of OETS.
Energisation of OETS will facilitate conduct of oscillation tests of metro trains by Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) of the ministry of railways. The RDSO team has to conduct the tests and issue a certificate. Thereafter, L&TMRHL will conduct trial runs in the Begumpet-Ameerpet and SR Nagar-Ameerpet sections.
At the board meeting on September 19, HMRL managing director NVS Reddy assured the members, including state chief secretary S P Singh, that work on these two stretches would be completed by October 15 to facilitate trial running of trains so that the commissioner of metro rail safety (CMRS) can be approached for safety certification. The Nagole-Begumpet and Miyapur-SR Nagar sections have already been energised, after obtaining CEIG’s sanction. According to sources, trial runs are under way between Mettuguda and Begumpet (9 km). First, empty trains were run and, later, those laden with sand bags to simulate the actual running condition of a three-car train to its full capacity of 600 to 800 passengers.
The RDSO will conduct a thorough check of various parameters such as train movement at different speeds, braking, gradients, tilts and turns, efficiency of overhead power traction and towing of trains during an emergency to help L&TMRHL obtain the speed certification.
After about 20 days of testing by RDSO, metro rail authorities will seek the permission of CMRS to conduct their own safety test. Only after the CMRS gives its nod can the L&TMRHL and HMRL commercially launch train operations.
Officials said that the urban rejuvenation work at 24 metro stations and greening of the central medians on the two stretches is picking up pace and would take a few weeks for completion.
HMR has finalised the tenders for improving streetscape underneath all the 24 stations along the two corridors at a cost of `50 crore.
These include signages, bus bays, street furniture, widening of footpaths and barricading. The continuous heavy rains for the past few weeks are hampering the work. On the flip side, development of the proposed 32 parking spaces and circulating areas, 17 by L&THMRL and 15 by HMRL, may be delayed by a few months. The less said the better about the pathetic condition of roads along metro stretches. Though HMR has nothing to do with it, the road-laying work has been left to the newly-formed Hyderabad Road Development Corporation Limited (HRDCL). And, what steps it is taking is hardly known.