The Hyderabad police on Thursday foiled a bit by activists to carry out a rally in the heart of the city, under the banner of the Old City Metro Rail Joint Action Committee.
The JAC was staging a protest demanding that the Telangana government begin construction of the Hyderabad Metro Rail in the old city area, as soon as possible and avoid further delay.
Local leaders from most parties in the state including Congress, BJP, CPI and CPI(M) and attempted to take out a rally from Charminar to Falaknuma.
Besides pointing fingers at the TRS, the protesters also found fault with the AIMIM and accused them of 'deliberately' stalling the work.
Left leaders who were detained included CPI ex-MP Syed Azeez Pasha, CPI Hyderabad District Secretary E T Narasimha and AIYF Hyderabad General Secretary Nerlakanti Srikanth.
Last week, Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) officials and AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi inspected a 6 km-stretch between MGBS and Faluknama.
The Hyderabad metro rail officials, led by HMRL director NVS Reddy, conducted a detailed inspection of the stretch.
Akbaruddin Owaisi, who was also part of the inspections, urged HMRL officials to immediately start the work.
After the inspections, Reddy assured that the work for the proposed stretch would commence in “two to three days”.
The metro line from MGBS to Falaknuma will run via Dar-Ul-Shafa, Purani Hawali, Eitebar Chowk, Volta Hotel, Sultan Shahi, Shah Ali Banda, Syed Ali Chabutra and Shamsheer Gunj.
Six metro stations - Salarjung museum, Charminar, Shah Ali Banda, Shamshergunj, Jangammet and Falaknuma - are set to come up along this corridor.
The state government has plans to extend the metro service from LB Nagar to the airport via Faluknuma.
Earlier in May, NVS Reddy, at a press conference, had said that the metro rail works in the old city area would commence only by 2019 and would take another three years to complete.
Reddy also pointed out that the project at this stretch has been delayed due to issues regarding land acquisition, as an array of properties, including several heritage buildings and religious monuments and structures, are located along the proposed route.