‍Will 'Metro Rail' Ever Chug In Old City Areas In Hyderabad?

Lack of funds, interest and selfish reasons the metro rail project is not able to extend till old city areas in Hyderabad. The political-will is the main reason behind this delay. And it will continue for long till the politicians feel pressure from public.

Not anytime soon, according to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) who have been demanding that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government release Rs 1,000 crore funds for the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project as promised in the Telangana budget this financial year. 

While the eastern parts of the old city have access to the metro via the Malakpet station. The western region of the area is completely cut off. And residents await the promised metro stretch of six kilometres from Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) metro station to Faluknuma as part of the second phase, which was promised by the Telangana government before the 2018 elections. 

The Hyderabad Metro Rail, which was inaugurated in 2017, in its first phase covers a distance of 69.2 kilometres across three corridors, from Miyapur to LB Nagar, from Jubilee Bus Station (JBS) to MGBS and from Nagole to Raidurgam. It runs along the middle of the Old Mumbai Highway, dividing city blocks and communities. In cities like Bengaluru and Chennai, parts of the metro run underground and blend into the city. In Hyderabad however, the metro rail stands out. It’s a fully elevated, grey concrete structure that stands apart from the city landscape. 

However, some transport researchers argue that it provides little last-mile connectivity and doesn’t connect the parts of the city with larger population density. And the people with perhaps the least access to the metro are from the predominantly Muslim, old city of Hyderabad. 

Syed Amin Ul Hasan Jafri, a Member of Legislative Council from AIMIM says the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project at the time of its planning did not carry out any public consultation with locals of the old city.
“The east side of the old city has access to the Hyderabad Metro at Malakpet metro station and also to the Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS), but those who are on the west have to commute and spend more to reach the metro or the MMTS,” says Jafri. 

On the western part of old city, you have Hussain Alam, Patter Darwaza, Purana Pul, there is Mangalghat, Dhoolpet and Begum Bazaar, says Jafri ”These are slums with high population densities but none of these areas is covered by the metro or the MMTS,” he adds. 

The Telangana government before the state election in 2018 had made announcements over Phase 2 of the Hyderabad Metro extending the lines from Raidurgam to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad. The plan also included extending the metro line from LB Nagar and from Faluknuma to Shamshabad. However, these plans are yet to come to fruition. 

In October 2020, the L&T Group, who took over the project in 2013,  had expressed their intention to exit the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project, citing losses. The metro is operated by L&T Metro and the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL), representing the government side, through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

L&T Metro says that it suffered a net loss of Rs 382 crore from the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project in FY 2019-20. The loss has been attributed to the closure of the metro service for 170 days during the COVID-19 pandemic induced lockdowns. The year before, the company had reported a profit of Rs 16,344 crore and losses of Rs 149 crore. The Hyderabad Metro reportedly has cost overruns to the tune of Rs 16,000 crore. 

“To overcome the huge financial burden on us, and for some respite, we are exploring different options with all related stakeholders. Due to COVID-19, Hyderabad Metro Rail operations were suspended for about 170 days. Presently, our prime focus is to continue operations adhering to safety norms," a spokesperson of the L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited told #KhabarLive at the time. 

“Now the operator is seeking compensation in the form of aid, this puts further strain on the state,” said Jafri. Reports suggest the Telangana government has turned down L&T Metro’s request for aid but has instead offered to assist in procuring soft loans. “The state is already facing a financial crunch and L&T Metro has overspent on the metro construction by Rs 3,756 crore. Now they have no money for completing the remaining stretch to Faluknuma, nor do they seem to have funds for Phase 2,” he adds. 

Professor C Ramachandraiah, an Urban Transportation expert from the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, says one must pay attention to how the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project was planned in the first place. 

Before the L&T Metro came into the picture, the project in July 2008 was first awarded to Maytas, an infrastructure firm promoted by Satyam Computer Services for a projected cost of Rs 12,132 crore. Maytas would lose the project a year later in 2009 when the promoters of Satyam were found to be indulging in financial fraud. 

This was in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, when the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was in power. The project was awarded on a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) model to Maytas by the then Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP). The Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) were prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) at the time headed by E Sreedharan. DMRC was made a consultant for the project.

Prior to the project being awarded to Maytas, the HMRL refused to make the DPRs of the project public, says Ramachandraiah, this is despite filing Right to Information appeals, he adds.

But controversy broke when Sreedharan wrote to then Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, in September 2008 pointing out discrepancies in the project. Sreedharan raised concerns over the BOT model of awarding infrastructure projects to private companies. He also pointed out that the routes were planned to benefit the real estate sector. The GoAP was unhappy with the letter and the DRMC parted aways from the project as consultants, shortly after.

To clear the air, Sreedharan in 2008 expressed in a report, “When we discovered that the metro lines were altered and extended (DMRC had objected to this) to areas where the successful BOT operator had extensive private landholdings — a metro connection would enhance the market value of these plots four or five times — we began to feel that the tendering process was clearly not transparent enough and we withdrew from our role as prime consultants.”

Jafri says these changes in the plans have impacted connectivity for the old city. “The plans were prepared in a hurry, the DPRs that were prepared did not survey many areas with high population density and there were controversies surrounding the way GoAP awarded the project to Maytas. The company didn't even have any prior experience building a metro. The state is also dragging its feet to complete the doubling of rail tracks for the MMTS, connecting Faluknuma to Shamshabad,” he adds. 

The AIMIM leader alleges that the originally planned routes were altered and the DPR was tailored to benefit Maytas. “If the government did the project, the plans would have been made after talks with the public, it would have served more people. But here the government agencies were not involved, the public was not consulted.

When L&T Metro came into the picture, the DPR and routes weren’t revisited. The then government went on to approve and the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government also approved the project costs,” he says.
However, Jafri says that even if the metro line is extended to Faluknuma, it does not address the connectivity issues plaguing the old city. 

The area already suffers from poor bus connectivity and the existing Hyderabad Metro route to Faluknuma won’t help the locals to travel within the area, says Rathnam, a city-based transport researcher. The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has two bus depots at Falaknuma and Farook Nagar, and he adds that people will choose the buses as it’s cheaper.

However, Rathnam also says, “these buses are useful to commute outside the old city, they don’t service within the localities. Most of the streets are narrow, which is one reason why the buses don’t service interior routes of the old city. Also the routes are loss making for the corporation. They had tried operating mini buses in the interior routes. Unfortunately, they gave up too soon before a ridership could be built,”

Residents thus therefore mostly rely on shared autos. “The men use bikes, the women mostly walk. Using shared autos can be expensive as they have to switch autos because of no direct routes to destinations. This will be the case even if the metro comes, it is going to be equally expensive. The metro routes are being designed to follow the existing bus routes that are how the metro route has been planned. It gives residents an option to move in and out of the old city but travelling within still remains an unaddressed issue,” he adds. 

A response from L&T Metro is awaited and the story will be updated when they respond. HMRL Managing Director, NVS Reddy declined to comment on this story.

Seeing all the reports, versions and updates, it is quite evident that technically it is not viable to run the metro rail in old city and a strong political support helps to stop the process. Let's wait and see the public reaction and other civil societies version and government review on this long-pending project. #KhabarLive #hydnews 

‍‍Top Search Engine Mistakes To Avoid While Drive Traffic For Website

If you have a website then you already know the importance of traffic. Traffic is to Internet marketing as location is to real estate. It's the only thing that really matters. If you cannot generate targeted visitors to your site, you will not make any sales.

Usually the owner or designer of the website is the person designated to drive traffic to the site. The chief ingredient in generating traffic is the search engine. Of course, you can use advertising, but it's going to cost you. Using the search engines to generate targeted (interested in your product) traffic is the least expensive method known.

Unfortunately, many website owners do not understand the importance of search engine visibility, which leads to traffic. They place more importance on producing a "pretty" website. Not that this is bad, but it is really secondary to search engine placement. Hopefully, the following list of common mistakes, made by many website owners, will help you generate more targeted traffic to your site...after all, isn't that what you want.

1. Not using keywords effectively.
This is probably one of the most critical area of site design. Choose the right keywords and potential customers will find your site. Use the wrong ones and your site will see little, if any, traffic.

2. Repeating the same keywords.
When you use the same keywords over and over again (called keyword stacking) the search engines may downgrade (or skip) the page or site.

3. Robbing pages from other websites.
How many times have you heard or read that "this is the Internet and it's ok" to steal icons and text from websites to use on your site. Don't do it. Its one thing to learn from others who have been there and another to outright copy their work. The search engines are very smart and usually detect page duplication. They may even prevent you from ever being listed by them.

4. Using keywords that are not related to your website.
Many unethical website owners try to gain search engine visibility by using keywords that have nothing at all to do with their website. They place unrelated keywords in a page (such as "sex", the name of a known celebrity, the hot search topic of the day, etc.) inside a meta tag for a page. The keyword doesn't have anything to do with the page topic. However, since the keyword is popular, they think this will boost their visibility. This technique is considered spam by the search engines and may cause the page (or sometimes the whole site) to be removed from the search engine listing.

5. Keyword stuffing.
Somewhat like keyword stacking listed above, this means to assign multiple keywords to the description of a graphic or layer that appears on your website by using the "alt=" HTML parameter. If the search engines find that this text does not really describe the graphic or layer it will be considered spam.

6. Relying on hidden text.
You might be inclined to think that if you cannot see it, it doesn't hurt. Wrong.... Do not try to hide your keywords or keyword phrases by making them invisible. For example, some unethical designers my set the keywords to the same color as the background of the web page; thereby, making it invisible.

7. Relying on tiny text.
This is another version of the item above (relying on hidden text). Do not try to hide your keywords or keyword phrases by making them tiny. Setting the text size of the keywords so small that it can barely be seen does this.

8. Assuming all search engines are the same.
Many people assume that each search engine plays by the same rules. This is not so. Each has their own rule base and is subject to change anytime they so desire. Make it a point to learn what each major search engine requires for high visibility.

9. Using free web hosting.
Do not use free web hosting if you are really serious about increasing site traffic via search engine visibility. Many times the search engines will eliminate content from these free hosts.

10. Forgetting to check for missing web page elements.
Make sure to check every page in your website for completeness, like missing links, graphics, etc. There are sites on the web that will do this for free.

This is just a few of the methods and techniques that you should avoid. Do not give in to the temptation that these methods will work for you. They will do more harm than good for your website.

Not only will you spend weeks of wasted effort, you may have your site banned from the search engines forever. Invest a little time to learn the proper techniques for increasing search engine visibility and your net traffic will increase. #KhabarLive #hydnews

Straight Talk: Why It's 'Plain Stupid' To Buy A House In India?

The crash of the Indian housing market is imminent. Two incidents gave me pause for thought recently.

Firstly: Just as I was about to tee off at the Milpitas golf course in California this September I heard a "fore" and was fascinated to see a fellow golfer tee off from the backyard of his home. I thought, "What a life/luxury!"

I realised that this 7200 yard golf course is inhabited by a mere 50 families and Zillow (an app that dispenses info on real estate prices) indicated the price of each bungalow was in the range of US$1.1-1.3 million (approx ₹7.5 crore).

'Yes, we do sell affordable homes, if you happen to be Donald Trump.'
One cannot ignore that the US of A was built on the premise that infrastructure (rail, road, bridges etc) are the bedrock of economic activity and the growth of any nation. And the USA has by far the best infrastructure in the world.

Mother of all land scams has blown in the face of KCR government in Telangana

The illegal deal is reported to have caused a loss of Rs 587 crore to the state exchequer.

Just a week after K Chandrasekhar Rao claimed no government land in Telangana had passed on to private hands, the chief minister is on the back foot. It has now come to light that Telangana Rashtra Samiti senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Kesava Rao's family purchased 50 acres of land in Hafeezpur village in Ibrahimpatnam mandal near Hyderabad.

The Great Jobs Fear-Mongering: Are job cuts really happening?

India is in the grip of the great jobs fear-mongering. At the core of this is the mis-informed impression that jobs in India have shrunk/are shrinking. That's far from truth. Yes, there's a neighbour here and a cousin there who has either lost her job or hasn't found a suitable job for a prolonged period of time but the truth is that the job scenario-though challenging--isn't as gloomy as it is being made out of be.

Comprehensive data on jobs is notoriously patchy. But anything that is available points to the fact that India is still producing jobs, even though at a slower pace than 2 years ago. That effectively means that the overall job market in the country continues to grow, rather than shrink.

A cafe chain is giving Indians exactly what they want: the perfect cup of chai

Inside a bright green and yellow outlet of Chaayos in Delhi’s Connaught Place neighbourhood, Swati Singh is taking some respite from the heat. But the Delhi University student isn’t sipping the usual cold coffee or lime soda; instead, she’s savouring a cup of saunf (fennel seed) chai, one of the many varieties offered by a chain that has made India’s unofficial national beverage its flagship product.

“…mostly we end up going to the coffee places like Starbucks or Cafe Coffee Day, (but) this place seems worth trying,” the 22-year-old said, adding that she liked the idea of experimenting with all the different tea flavours.

India’s economy is set for a $1.3 trillion bonanza from 60 million new homes

Prime minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious plan to build homes for all Indians by 2022 could spark an economic revolution worth $1.3 trillion, which is a little more than Mexico’s GDP.

Between 2018 and 2024, some 60 million new homes are set to be built, mostly under the government’s affordable housing programme, as Asia’s third-largest economy looks to upgrade its people’s quality of life.

Is the U.S. Stock Market Headed Higher — or for a Crash?

A groundswell of concern is building on Wall Street that the U.S. stock market is in dangerously high territory. 

This week, the Nasdaq Composite hit a new high as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 remained in record territory — and they are up 28%, 18% and 16% respectively from a year ago. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is trading at 25 times trailing 12-month earnings compared with a historical average of 16. The value of the stock market is nearly 150% higher than the nation’s GDP, a level last seen around the dot-com bust in 2000, according to the World Bank. And a BofA Merrill Lynch survey showed that 81% of fund managers think U.S. stocks are overvalued. 

RERA Myths Busted: No Big Relief For Stuck Home Buyers, House Prices Won't Rise

The dust has finally settled on RERA or the Real Estate Regulation & Development Act. From Monday (1 May 2017) it comes into force across India, and the day will be remembered as a special day for home buyers who have been committing the largest chunk of their life savings to an industry which has been free for all.

A press release from the Housing Ministry stated how this day marks the end of a 9-year-long wait; and for the first time 76,000 companies engaged in building and construction activities across the country will become accountable for quality and delivery. Union Minister for Housing Venkaiah Naidu in his tweets called it the beginning of a new era making buyer the king, while the developers benefit from the confidence of a King in the regulated environment.

Political Vultures, Real Estate Sharks And Criminals Ganged Up To Ruin Bengaluru

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

India's tech capital Bengaluru is falling apart - well, almost. A city, whose infrastructure can support just about 30 to 40 lakh people, is now home for more than double that number. In the first of a two-part series, INNLIVE traces the origins of Bengaluru's destruction which began even before the city was swamped by IT professionals.

Why Bangalore Is Losing Its Shine For IT Companies?

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

India’s homegrown Silicon Valley is facing stiff competition from unexpected quarters as the country’s hottest IT destination.

Undoubtedly, Bangalore is still the number one IT/ITeS outsourcing location in the world, as noted by an Economic Times article quoting a 2014 survey of the top 100 IT locations. It’s not difficult to see why — the city not only boasts the highest number of startups, but also has an ecosystem that supports the startup culture. It has a large pool of tech talent, mentors, and venture capitalists, as well as accelerators and incubators.

GST Effect: Under-Construction Apartments To Cost More

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

Prices of under-construction apartments may rise by up to 5-10% when the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is rolled out . But, prices of completed apartments will not be affected as GST will not be applicable there.

Dying Young Mothers In Assam’s Tea Gardens – At A Rate Higher Than Anywhere In India.

By NEWS KING | INNLIVE

The tea industry and the government joined hands but failed to stem the deaths in the predominantly tribal community.

Babita Jayram has beaten the odds. The 21-year-old sits in one corner of the hospital bed, brushing her hair with the slow, steady strokes of a purple comb. The nine months of pregnancy mostly spent at a tea garden on the eastern fringes of Assam were uneventful. There were no complications during the delivery. A healthy newborn, curled gently on her lap, sleeps quietly.

Dubai Gets Early Taste Of Brexit Crisis Impact

By RAM KUMAR | INNLIVE

Unsurprisingly, the UK has already been feeling the heat of its vote to leave the European Union. London on Monday (July 18)  woke up to the news that the forecasters at EY Item Club have indicated that the UK will have to pay quite a bigger price than predicted or assumed so far by any analyst.

Item Club has cut its growth forecast from 2.3 per cent to 1.9 per cent for 2016, and from 2.6 per cent to just 0.4 per cent for 2017 saying the Brexit will have severe confidence effects on spending and business investment.

Spotlight: Telangana IT Corridor Is Brewing Troubles

By RENUKA REDDY | INNLIVE

Many Start-Ups In The Incubator Are Complaining Of Lack Of Space, Absent Mentors And Skewed Support System.

Nearly seven months after the T-Hub threw its doors open amid much expectations and promises, the state government-run incubator is ridden with issues.Steep rates, lack of room to expand teams and a `virtually absent' and inaccessible network of mentors feature in the long list of grievances raised by many who signed up with the facility.

Is Telangana CM KCR Redrawing New State's District Boundaries To Fix His Political Opponents?

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE
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There’s criticism that the state's 14 new districts are being decided on the Telangana chief minister’s whims instead of on a scientific study.

Two years after being carved out of united Andhra Pradesh, Telangana is feeling division pangs once again.

On Friday, a highway blockade that was started by people agitating for a separate district in Telangana got out of hand when the protestors, realising that their demands may not be met, damaged two buses and set one on fire.

AP Govt Is Leaving Hyderabad Capital: Why June 27 Has Become Such A Flashpoint For 13,324 Govr Employees?

By RADHAKRISHNA | INNLIVE

What prompted Chandrababu Naidu to order his state government to move lock, stock and barrel from the capital city that it has rights over for eight more years?

June 27 is D-Day, as far as the Andhra Pradesh government is concerned. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has asked 13,324 employees of the state government Secretariat and various heads of department to shift from Hyderabad to the transitional headquarters at Guntur by this date. They are expected to move to and begin functioning from near Amaravati, the ambitious new capital being built near Guntur and Vijayawada.

United Kingdom Leaves European Union: How Is GCC Affected?

By SARAH WILLIAMS | INNLIVE

The United Kingdom has decided to leave the European Union (EU), after a nation-wide referendum held recently and voted in favour of an exit, which has come to be known as “Brexit”.

Nearly 52 per cent of voters chose to leave, guaranteeing a win for Brexit. The United Kingdom joined the EU in 1973 under a conservative government headed by Prime Minister Edward Heath.

A Glimpse Of 'Middle Eastern Millionaires' Lifestyle

By FAZIL PERVEZ | INNLIVE

The United Arab Emirates is home to the largest number of high-net-worth-individuals (HNWI) in the Arab world, a newly released report finds.

Produced by New World Wealth, the ranking comes as part of the recently published Middle East 2016 Wealth Report, exploring the regional countries millionaires resided in during 2015.

Spotlight: A Misplaced Emphasis On Indian Highways?

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

Why does the government continue with its blind focus on highways and expressways when infrastructure for water supply, waste management and mass transit system is in desperate need of attention? INNLIVE criticises the government's prioritization and says there is more to public infrastructure than just highways and expressways.