Mumbai, Oct. 14 -- The Centre has not sought land from state governments for three proposed high-speed rail corridors linked to Hyderabad, Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy said. Alignment studies for the Hyderabad-Chennai, Hyderabad-Bengaluru and Hyderabad-Pune corridors are currently under way, he said.
Reddy said no land acquisition requisitions had been sent to the concerned state governments. Any acquisition being undertaken at this stage in the name of high-speed rail would therefore be illegal, according to his statement.
The clarification comes as the Telangana government faces resistance from farmers over land acquisition efforts on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The proposed rail corridor is among the projects connected with the concerns raised by affected landowners.
Reddy said he had discussed the three proposed corridors with Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Vaishnaw clarified that the Railways Ministry had not asked the respective state governments to acquire land for any of the projects, Reddy said.
The alignment studies are intended to determine the routes of the corridors before any formal land-related process begins. Once the alignments are finalised, details will be shared with the respective state governments and farmers, according to the minister.
The three corridors would connect Hyderabad with Chennai, Bengaluru and Pune, but their final routes have not yet been determined. The Centre's clarification indicates that land acquisition for the high-speed rail projects should not proceed until the studies are completed and formal requisitions are issued.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.