Cabinet nod for Hakimpet as second civil airport

Hyderabad: Keeping in view the rapid growth in terms of industry and expansion of the city limits, the state government on Monday decided to focus on improving the public transport system.

According to Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development K T Rama Rao, a metro rail corridor between the international airport and Kandukur around ORR (Outer Ring Road) at an estimated cost of around Rs 60,000 crore covering more than 101 km has been proposed.

He said the cabinet decided to develop the Hakimpet Air Force station as the second airport for civil aviation. The state would request the Centre to develop a civil aviation facility at defence stations on the lines of Pune and Goa stations promoted in a hybrid system. The cabinet ratified the names of BRS senior leader D Sravan and K Satyanarayana (both from BC communities) as the MLC candidates under the Governor’s quota. KTR hoped Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan will approve the names of the two without creating any political hurdles.

KTR said that the three rejected bills pertaining to Education, Panchayat Raj and Municipal Administration by Governor Soundarajan will be adopted in the ensuing Assembly again. He alleged that the Governor system was being exploited for political reasons.

The cabinet also approved the establishment of a Horticulture College in Mahabubabad. An allocation of Rs 1,800 crore for 2,000 beds in NIMS, pensions to beedi contractors, 253 acres of land allocation for Warangal airport and establishment of eight more medical colleges in the districts. With this, every district will have one medical college in Telangana. KTR said that Telangana would be the first state to achieve such a big milestone in the medical education in the country. The Cabinet also discussed the rains and its impact on agriculture, the flood situation, the damage due to floods and decided to release Rs 500 crore as relief.