Blueprints of Alld, Gkp Metro ready
LUCKNOW: The blueprints of metro rail projects for CM Yogi Adityanath’s hometown Gorakhpur and Allahabad are ready, according to a UP Metro Rail Corporation official.
“The detailed project reports (DPRs) are ready. After getting the nod of principal advisor to UPMRC E Sreedharan,, they would be submitted to the state government,” said the official.
A meeting with ‘Metro Man’ Sreedharan was scheduled this week, he said adding that the UP government had already dispatched the DPRs of metro rail projects of Agra, Kanpur and Meerut to the Centre. “We had sent the blueprints of these three cities to the Centre on January 24 and are awaiting a response,” he said.
In September, the Centre had returned the DPRs of Varanasi and Kanpur metro rail projects and asked the authorities to re-evaluate them in the light of the new metro rail policy. While Varanasi is PM Modi’s constituency, Kanpur is the hometown of the President of India. The DPRs for Varanasi is still being reworked to make it comply with the norms laid down in the new metro rail policy. “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 new Metro Rail Policy provides for rigorous assessment of new metro proposals and proposes an independent third party assessment by agencies to be identified by the government like the Institute of Urban Transport and other such centres of excellence,” he said.
According to him, Mini Metro Rails were suitable for tier III towns, such as Varanasi and Gorakhpur, since they were cost effective as compared to regular or medium sized metros.
The UP government has earmarked ₹100 crore in this year’s budget for implementation of projects in Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Jhansi and Meerut and another ₹150 crore for the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation . The Allahabad Metro Rail service would run on two lines, an east-west line from Bamrauli to Jhunsi and a northsouth line from Shantipuram in Phaphamau to Naini. Both lines would be about 20 km long. The project is expected to cost ₹8000 crore.