Will Metrorail solve the problems of pubic transport in Hyderabad?

The public transportation system is an incorrigible mess and is getting increasingly worse in the twin cities thanks to governmental apathy and mismanagement.

The sheer scale and volume of traffic on Hyderabad roads is such that even VVIPs are at times caught in traffic snarls. Not infrequently, we find traffic policemen struggling to flag traffic down to let a VIP car or convoy pass. Public transportation means have gone from bad to worse over the years and commuting is an ordeal for most people today. While the APSRTC struggles to cope with the growing demand for fresh routes and more buses on the existing ones, it is hamstrung by narrow roads and a growing number of vehicles which hit the city roads every day.
One would expect the government to wake up to this problem as any responsible establishment would, but mass transportation has never really been accorded the importance it deserves in our scheme of things. Look at Hyderabad's population—close to a million. The city is bursting at the seams and is rapidly spreading in all directions around the hub. We have failed to visualize the extent of the problem nor have we thought of a viable solution.
One needs to look at the bigger cities in the West. All of them had planned for public transportation systems to make life easy for commuters so that today a subway in New York, Chicago or the London Metro to cite a few examples, typify foresight and vision. Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo are among the cities in the east that put good subway systems in place.
Delhi and Kolkata woke up to the fact that there had to be some way of helping people travel in large numbers across  huge distances and finally, after years of excavation, construction, legal wrangles and other hurdles, both the metropolitan centres managed to design and set up world class mass transportation systems. Bangalore has come around and will be next off the blocks soon. Where did Hyderabad go wrong?
The twin cities grew as an urban agglomeration in much the same manner as most Indian cities do—in bizarre, unplanned ways. Roads were seldom widened and too many vested interests prevented the municipal authorities from taking firm action. The GHMC, formerly MCH, has looked the other way as illegal constructions narrowed streets and even some arterial roads. Today, Hyderabad's population stands at 8 milion officially, but unofficial figures put the figures by at least one more million.
Official statistics put the number of motorized vehicles at nearly three million currently and with new bikes and cars pouring on to the roads of the twin cities by the hour, we can well imagine the state of RTC buses or the pace at which they are likely to move, in the years to come. It is worth remembering that
42% of the populace depends on the existing public transportation system. While local trains and MMTS do their bit, they constitute a drop in the ocean for the number of people they ferry.
It is hoped that once the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), which is likely to cover close to 80 km or most of the area around the twin cities comes in a few years from now, things will change vastly. Till then the traffic snarls, mounting pollution levels and problems of public transportation will continue to plague Hyderabad.
-observer@sakshipost