Telangana Minister for IT, Municipal Administration and Panchayati Raj K T Rama Rao on Thursday said safety should be the top priority in the execution of the ongoing Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) project.

Rao, who held a review meeting on progress of the work at Metro Bhavan in Hyderabad, mentioned the fly-over collapse in Kolkata and emphasised need to stick to the safety standards to avoid such accidents.

Appreciating the quality of construction of L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRHL, which is executing the project), the Minister instructed its engineers to take additional precautionary measures to ensure safety of citizens during the construction.

He asked HMR Managing Director N V S Reddy to personally monitor the safety measures taken by L&TMRHL.

While reviewing the over bridge work in Malakpet, Rao advised Reddy to conduct a joint inspection with the Hyderabad police commissioner and ensure free traffic flow during the construction period.

L&TMRHL and HMRL should jointly ensure that the project is completed as per the schedule, Rao said.

L&TMRHL Managing Director and Chief Executive V B Gadgil also attended the meeting.

The 72-km elevated metro rail will have three corridors and 66 stations.