Metro Rail to Airport may take 3 years to complete: L&T Metro Rail COO

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Metro Rail connectivity to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Shamshabad with western and eastern part of Hyderabad may take three years time to complete, informed Anil Kumar Saini, COO, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd while addressing 400 plus Facility Management professionals here in the city at its 7th FM Summit held on Friday night at Anvaya Conventions at Gachibowli Financial District.

Saini was one of the speakers at the annual event of Facility Management professionals in the city. While addressing them on "How do we bridge last mile connectivity", Anil Kumar Saini who has nearly three decades of experience in implementation of mega Railways and. Metro Projects from concept to commissioning said the 85 kms long second phase project to the airport is in its approval stage and might take another three years to see the light of the day.

The top officer of L & T Metro also informed that L & T runs 710 trips by 42 trains which travel 17,600 kms route every day. They ferry nearly 2.5 to 2.75 lakh passengers every day. Metro Rail helps reduce emission levels. The emissions of one metro rail are equal to 5 public buses and 25 cars, he told them.

First and Last Mile connectivity are very important, Saini added and said, L & T Metro is collaborating with Telangana Facility Management Council for last mile connectivity. In this process, L & T Metro Rail has ensured bikes on rental, rental cars, corporate and private shuttle services, RTC integration, Auto Stand, Zoom Cars on Rent, Feeder Shuttle Service to nearby hubs are some of the initiatives, he added.

Nearly 40 shuttle services are run to help 5000 people commute from Hitech and Durgam Cheruvu stations and back. Among other initiatives, he spoke about Transport Call Centre and Tsavaari App. We are encouraging strudy tours of children to our metro facilities and stations to create more awarness about Metro Rail Services, he told them.

In a peak times Stations like Hitech City, Miyapur and LB Nagar record 4000 entries and exit every hour, Saini informed.

Replying to some queries put forth by Facility Management professionals, Saini informed that they could increase number of coaches to six from the current three coaches. Even the frequency can become 3 or 4 minutes. But, it will all depend on the rush.

The Last Mile Connectivity initiative resulted in 6,000 IT employees using Hyd Metro Rail service to back and forth from their respective homes and offices, informed Satyanarayana Mathala, President of TFMC.

Harichandana, Zonal Commissioner of West Zone of GHMC, spoke about Waste Management in IT facilities and large corporate houses. While addressing them she told them that GHMC may not collect waste from corporates in future. We may stop the current practice. So you better be prepared, she told 400 plus Facility Management professionals who are responsible for the upkeep of the IT facilities.

Replying to another question, Harichandana said we are giving you water in tanks bringing it from 400kms distance. Right now we are tapping into 5000 years old water reserves under the ground. After we consume this water, we will not be left out with any water.

There are many cities in the world, Harichandrana stated that are run out of water. Nearly 50 cities in the world ration the water. Fortunately Hyderabad is not one of them. You better change tap fittings. Use nozzles so that it can give mist. By changing nozzle of the tap, you can save 20 percent of water. Save ground water. Increase green cover. A Canadian on an average has 2900 trees, where as an Indian has just 20 trees. 5 percent of heat comes down due to trees, she informed.

Everybody suggest saving every drop of water, but at the same time nobody is worried about water tanker leakages. Nearly 80 percent of water takers leak water and lot of water is lost in the transportation to it. And she was asked to comment on the same and asked to explain if they had any plans to curb such practices and arrest leakages. Harichandana replied that nearly 5000 water tankers run in the city. Of which just 600 belong to Water Board and rest of them belong to private. We need to enforce leak. We tried once. And there is a need to try and ensure that leak is minimised.