MMTS Phase II by December 2017: Bandaru Dattatreya

Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said that Phase II works of the ongoing Multi-Modal Transit System (MMTS) were going on at a brisk pace and that by December, 2017, at least one section of the three – Bolarum-Medchal, Secunderabad-Ghatkesar and Falaknuma-Umdanagar – would be open for traffic.

Walking down memory lane, he recalled how the MMTS was his dream project, and while expressing happiness at the much-patronised Phase I, he nevertheless regretted that the previous government had been callous about it, so much so the even the Railways had neglected allocating the necessary funds. If that were the case with Phase I, it was a saving grace for Phase II with a pro-active government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi making the necessary funds available, he said.

“In the current budget Rs. 125 crore was provided, and the State government has to release its share of Rs. 100 crore. I am seeking the release of Rs. 200 crore now,” he told presspersons here on Sunday after holding a high-level review meeting with General Manager, South Central



Railway, Ravinder Gupta, MD, Metro Rail, N.V.S. Reddy and Chief Project Manager, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, Srinivas, who handles the Phase II project.

As for the much-talked about L&T Metro Rail, he said the swank coaches would run on the Nagole-Mettuguda and Miyapur-SR Nagar stretches by June next. He regretted that the Metro Rail did not cover as much of the Old City as the people demanded, and said politics should not come in the way of development. He was striving to see if something could be done about it so that instead of the fringe areas, the core of the old city was covered, he said.

Referring to the lack of bus connectivity to railway stations on the MMTS network, he said he would soon convene a meeting of senior officers from the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation, Roads & Buildings and Revenue departments and take up the issue of road widening. If this happened and buses provided seamless connectivity to passengers getting off MMTS services, it would greatly reduce the number of vehicles on the roads, he pointed out.