Gorakhpur Metro DPR by July end

LUCKNOW: The detailed project report of Gorakhpur Metro Rail is likely to be in by July end. The Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC), the nodal agency for all Metro projects in the state, had awarded the contract to RITES in April following directions from chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

“We have completed a major portion of the survey work and are hoping the draft blueprint would be ready in another month’s time,” said an official associated with the project.

“Usually it takes about six months to finalise the DPR,” he said. He said since Gorakhpur didn’t have a comprehensive mobility plan (CMP), which is a mandatory pre-requisite for metro rail, RITES has also been asked to prepare the CMP simultaneously with the DPR.

The CM had directed the officials to introduce metro rail service for Gorakhpur on his first visit to his hometown on March 26. After the DPR is cleared by the state Cabinet, it is forwarded to the Centre for vetting and approval, since these are joint venture projects and the central government has to come on board statutorily. The DPR is cleared not only by the union urban development ministry but also needs clearance from finance, railways and civil aviation departments as well. “The clearance of DPR by the central departments may take 2-3 months”, the official added.

With the nod to Gorakhpur Metro, UP becomes the only state in the country with maximum number of cities with metro rail projects in various stages of completion.