Why 2nd MMTS phase is not operationalized? Telangana HC issue notices to SCR, state
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice K. Lakshman heard the PIL filed by M. Srinivas Reddy, CPI (M) Hyderabad city secretary.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 27 Nov 2021 3:11 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Telangana High Court issued notices to the South Central Railways (SCR) and state government asking them to respond to a PIL seeking direction for operationalization of second phase Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS).
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice K. Lakshman heard the PIL filed by M. Srinivas Reddy, CPI (M) Hyderabad city secretary.
M. Srinivas Reddy requested the court to instruct the SCR general manager to start running MMTS trains on the completed sections of tracks under phaseII linking Hyderabad, Secunderabad, and Cyberabad localities. The petitioner also wanted the court to declare not running MMTS services on already completed tracks as illegal and arbitrary.
Petitioner's counsel N.S. Arjun Kumar informed the court that due to the non-running of trains, thousands of potential commuters belonging to the poor and the middle-class sections of Hyderabad and surrounding areas were denied affordable MMTS services, at a time when fuel prices were increasing by the day.
Out of the total 84 km of MMTS second phase, work on 62 km was completed a few months ago. Even the railway safety authorities gave clearance for running MMTS trains on these stretches and they were commissioned for traffic.
The petitioner pointed out that in the tussle between SCR and the state government, public money to the tune of Rs 808 crore is being wasted. As per the memorandum of understanding between the Telangana state government and the SCR, it was agreed that the amount would be shared at the ratio of 2:3 and 1:3 respectively.
As per the agreement, the Telangana government should have borne the expenditure to the tune of Rs 606 crore. But it contributed only Rs 29.02 crore. According to the petitioner, the SCR had incurred an expenditure of Rs 678 crore on the project. The dispute over sharing the costs of the projects between the state government and the SCR had become a stumbling block in starting MMTS services under the second phase, he said.
