Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta, C.J.

1. Writ Appeal has been preferred against interim order, dated 15th March, 2012, passed by the learned Single Judge in the writ petition itself by which the interim relief prayed for in W.P.M.P. No. 665 of 2012 by the writ petitioners, was granted and thereby execution of Corridor-III of the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project in the segment of Greenlands - Shilparamam had been stayed.

2. While hearing the above appeal at the initial stage it was decided that the writ petition should be withdrawn from the roster of the Hon'ble Single Judge for rendering decision by the Division Bench along with the above appeal. Hence, this Court decided that instead of hearing the appeal in piecemeal, the writ petition itself should be heard out. Obviously, the interim order will be governed by the final decision in the writ petition.

3. Shorn of unnecessary, irrelevant and confusing details in the writ petition, short fact is stated hereunder:

"The 1st petitioner is an association of number of members and it is formed with primary motive and object to protect the interests of the traders and shop owners of the areas of Greenlands, Ameerpet, Sri Krishna Nagar, Madhura Nagar and Yousufguda, and the rest of the petitioners are claiming to be the merchants and owners of the properties in those areas. Hyderabad Metro Rail Project was conceived by the then State of Andhra Pradesh to ease the congestion on the roads of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and also to provide an alternative transit system for the commuters and, as such, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority Act, 2008 (hereinafter referred to as 'HMDA Act, 2008') was enacted. The project comprises three routes of a length of 71.6 kms comprising three lines which are commonly known as three Corridors and they are as follows:

Line-I : From Miyapur to L.B. Nagar, covering a distance of 29.87 km;

Line-II : From Jubilee Bus Station to Falakhnuma, covering a distance of 14.78 km; and

Line-III : From Nagole to Shilparamam, covering a distance of 14.78 km."

4. The entire project is stated to be an elevated corridor along the central meridian of roads with two parallel tracks of rails and 66 stations. This is being executed by mode of Public Private Partnership. Accordingly, the private company, viz., Larsen & Tubro, has been awarded the contract. The petitioners are aggrieved by the change in alignment of Line-III for laying the rail in the stretch of Greenlands to Shilparamam. They allege that all the details of alignment in regard to the proposed project was kept secret and no transparent measures, inviting public debate, was initiated by the respondents 1 & 2. This change has resulted in uprooting established families, business locations en-route. The petitioners came to know the details about the change only when land acquisition proceedings were initiated in July, 2011. There was no technical study undertaken preceding the change of alignment in regard to Line-III of the project for the stretch of Greenlands - Shilparamam. The respondents refused to disclose details with regard to decision making process. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the project was submitted by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in 2003 considering the viability of five alternatives. The report of 2003 was only in regard to Corridors I & II and did not include Corridor-III which is the subject-matter of the writ petition. The DPR of 2003 at page (vii) mention that the alignment for the stretch of Secunderabad - Hitech City line is not feasible as a fully elevated corridor from engineering point of view due to steep gradients, large number of ups and downs along the alignment and existence of four flyovers en-route. In view of such specific observations, fourth alternative was finalized as per the recommendation which had suggested only two Corridors - Line I from Miyapur to Chaitanyapuri and Line II from Secunderabad to Falakhnuma. However, there appears to be a separate DPR for Line-III