Rally For Metro In Old City Stopped, Leaders Held

Leaders of almost all top political parties in Telangana today led a rally demanding the extension of the Metro Rail to the Old City.

Chada Venkat Reddy (CPI), Baddam Bal Reddy (BJP), Cherupally Seetharamulu (CPM) and Rashid Sharif (TRS) organized a "Maha Padayatra" from Meer Chowk to Shalibanda under the aegis of the Old City Metro Rail JAC (OCMRJAC).

OCMRJAC leaders E T Narasimha (CPI), Aley Bhasker (BJP) and G Niranjan (Congress) along with thousands of people started on the padayatra from Meer Chowk, and the rally reached Ethey Bar Chowk before the police stopped it and arrested them.

The police also arrested JAC leaders Aley Jithender, Roop Raj, G Harinath Goud, Nerakanti Srikanth, Shamshuddin, Rajaratnam, Allam Bhasker, Pasham Surender, Venkatesh, Sajid Sharif, Chayadevi, Shakri Bhai, Amruthamma, Ameena and others. Several activists also received injuries in the jostling during the police arrest.

Addressing the crowd, the leaders alleged that all governments since 1947 had been neglecting the development of the Old City, and keeping the Old City out of the Metro Rail coverage was one more instance of that. They threatened to intensify their movement in phases and lay siege to Pragathi Bhavan if the government failed to launch Metro Rail works in the Old City.

Speaking on the occasion, Chada asked Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who had stated that he would transform the city into a world class metropolis, how come the metro rail did not cover the Old City which had a large number of heritage buildings and historical structures. Thousands of tourists from foreign countries and from various states visited Charminar every day, and the Old City needed the Metro Rail project to leave a good impression on them, he said. Even the residents of the Old City themselves were facing hardships every day due to bad roads, and the Metro would improve their daily lives too, he added.

Baddam Bal Reddy alleged that the Chief Minister was neglecting the Old City's development succumbing to the pressure of the MIM, and the people were observing all these issues. He warned the government that the people of the Old City would teach a fitting lesson to it as also to the MIM.

Cherupally Seetharamulu said that development in the Old City had stagnated for decades and urged the government to take up Metro Rail works in the Old City immediately so as to kick off progress in the area.

E T Narasimha slammed the police blocking the padayatra, and alleged that the TRS government was violating the right of freedom of expression using police force. It was atrocious that the same police, who had given permission for the Maha Padayatra had decided to block it and arrest its leaders, he said. He too asked the government to take up Metro Rail works immediately, warning that the Old City Metro Rail JAC would otherwise intensify their movement.