Hyderabad: MMTS phase-II works may get further delayed due to land acquisition problems in few areas between Moula Ali and Anandbagh, where several Rail Under Bridges (RUBs) are proposed.

The Rs 817-crore project, which started last year, has around 20 RUBs planned in the city. Though most of them are cleared and work is going on, due to recent increase in traffic and the curbs laid by the Army at AOC, the surrounding areas have been hit hard.

There are several RUBs planned in localities like East Anand-bagh, Uttamnagar, Malkajgiri and Moula Ali, which will be most helpful for commuters who will be affected by the AOC restrictions. But the Railways and civic authorities are facing objections from some locals and political leaders, who do not want their properties and commercial establishments to be demolished for the rail under-bridges.

“This issue has been long pending, and some of the locals also objected to moving a temple which was coming in the way of the works,” said former Malkajgiri MLA Akula Rajender.

“We tried to get a consensus between locals and officials several times, but some of them objected as they were trying to protect their properties; But these RUBs will be helpful for lakhs of commuters,” he added.

GHMC chief city planner Devender Reddy said, “Land acquisition near Uttamnagar, Wajpayee Nagar and other areas for RUBs is being done, and a church property was also handed over to us by the locals. The R&B department is looking into a few other RUBs.”

Meanwhile, officials from the R&B department denied their role in the acquisitions and said that they were only concerned with the construction of a couple of RUBs. “A representation has been made by some locals regarding the alignment, and recently it has come to our notice,” said R&B engineer-in-chief Mr Ravinder Rao.

“If the GHMC authorities clear the land acquisition issue, we can construct the RUBs,” he said.