Hyderabad, August 29: Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) Additional Managing Director B. Ajith Reddy has directed officials of all concerned government departments to expedite works related to the Old City Metro Rail expansion project.

Ajith Reddy conducted a field inspection on Saturday to review road-widening works along the Metro corridor. Accompanied by Metro Rail Chief Engineer S. Bhaskar Reddy, he inspected the 7.5-km stretch from Darulshifa to Chandrayangutta.

During the inspection, he reviewed the status of property acquisition. Of the 888 affected properties, 833 have already been acquired, while acquisition of the remaining 55 properties is pending. These include heritage structures and ancient buildings, which require special attention.

Ajith Reddy directed officials to speed up the safe relocation of utilities, including power lines, electricity poles and water pipelines, so that they do not obstruct the Metro project.

He also instructed officials to expedite the removal of affected structures and assets wherever land acquisition has already been completed. He stressed the need for effective coordination among all government departments to secure the Right of Way (RoW) at the earliest.

The Additional MD said local residents were expressing happiness over the Old City Metro works and extending their cooperation. He appreciated the efforts of revenue officials in completing land acquisition despite various challenges.

The inspection was attended by senior HMRL, GHMC, Metro Water Works and revenue officials, including C. Vinod Kumar, K. Shyam Mohan Reddy, T. Ramachandran, K. Narasinga Rao, V. Praveen Kumar, K. Satyanarayana and Special Deputy Collector (Land Acquisition) K. Swarnalatha, along with concerned Tahsildars.