UP to have a dedicated Metro Rail Authority
THE GOVT HAS ALREADY APPOINTED ‘METRO MAN’ E SREEDHARAN AS ITS PRINCIPAL ADVISOR FOR ALL METRO RAIL VENTURES IN THE STATE
LUCKNOW: With nine metro rail projects in various stages under its belt, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to set up a dedicated regulatory authority to oversee the implementation of these projects.
“Ours is the only state in the country which has so many metro rail projects going in various cities at the same time. Since these are major capital intensive projects and require a lot of coordination with other departments for power, land and other infrastructure facilities, need was felt to have a separate body to supervise and manage these ventures,” said a senior housing department official. Like Urban Mass Transit Company (UMTC), a consultancy partner of Union Minister of Urban Development (MoUD), this authority too would have metro rail, transport experts, planning and engineering professionals as members. The authority, besides ensuring execution of metro rail projects, would also advise the state government on various other urban transport and mobility solu- tions.
“Tentatively titled as State Unified Metro Rail Authority (SUMRA), the organisation’s head would be the chief secretary or an officer equal in rank,” said the official adding that the proposal was being vetted by the law department. The authority would be under the administrative control of the UP Housing Town and Country Planning Department, whose principle secretary would be its member secretary.
Metro rail projects are presently underway in Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Noida and Greater Noida. While a detailed project report for Kanpur is ready, RITES (Rail India Technical and Engineering Services) is preparing the DPRs of Agra, Meerut and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi.
Recently, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav ordered that project feasibility study for metro rail should also be undertaken for Allahabad.
The government has already appointed ‘ Metro Man’ E Sreedharan as its principal advisor for all metro rail ventures in the state. Till such time this fullfledged umbrella body takes a formal shape, the state government has appointed Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation - a special purpose vehicle overseeing the implementation of Lucknow Metro Rail project - as the nodal agency for the proposed Agra, Varanasi, Kanpur and Meerut metro rail projects. “The LMRC is dominated by ex- DMRCexperts and is itself a fledgling corporation. It would be hard-pressed to monitor other projects with the existing skeleton work force. It has just initiated the process of hiring more staff to take care of its own day-to-day affairs and operations, ” said the official.