Haryana chief minister chairs metro projects meeting

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar Monday directed officials to work actively for extension of the metro rail line in the national capital region in Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat, Jhajjar and Rohtak districts.

Khattar said the metro rail's extension will ensure ease of traffic and better public transport services to the people of the state.

Presiding over a review meeting of the Delhi Metro Rail Projects in the state, the chief minister said control of all metro rail projects in Haryana should be under Haryana Metro Rail Transport Corporation so that the state would not be dependent on organisations like the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and RITES, a government of India multi-disciplinary consultancy organisation dealing in the fields of transport, infrastructure and related technologies, an official release quoted him as saying.

The metro rail projects which were reviewed in the meeting included the 4.86-km-long metro corridor from Narela to Kundli which would be extended till Rajiv Gandhi Education City, the 30.38-km-long metro corridor between Gurugram and Faridabad, the 17.10-km-long metro corridor from City Park (Bahadurgarh) to Sampla, the 23.10-km-long metro corridor between Badsa (AIIMS and National Cancer Institute) and Dwarka.

At the meeting, officials said at present the biggest metro rail network in the country of 40 km was available in Haryana and there was a proposal to extend it by 75 km to 80 km in the fourth phase of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's project.

The chief minister directed the officers to explore possibilities to work on metro rail project in tricity Chandigarh (Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali).

Earlier at a meeting of Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) held here Monday, the detailed project report for metro connectivity from HUDA City Centre to Cyber City/Rapid Metro, Gurugram, was approved.

This would not only help in decongestion of roads but also save vehicle operation cost and time of passengers, the statement said.

The project will be implemented by Haryana Mass Rapid Transport Corporation (HMRTC).

The total length of the metro rail line would be 31.11 km and it would have 25 stations and six interchange points.

This metro line would be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 5,126 crore and is likely to be made operational by 2023.

"The metro stations which have been proposed on this route are HUDA City Centre, Sector 45, Cyber Park, Sector 46, Sector 47, Sector 48, Technology Park, Udyog Vihar Phase 6, Sector 10, Sector 37, Basai, Sector 9, Sector 7, Sector 4, Sector 5, Ashok Vihar, Sector 3, Krishna Chowk, Palam Vihar Extension, Palam Vihar, Sector 23 A, Sector 22, Udyog Vihar Phase IV and V and Cyber City," the statement said.

It was also decided that track integration between metro corridor and rapid metro would be considered for continuous operations.

Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited has written to the State Transport Authority for issuing of permits for commencing services from Gurugram to Faridabad during peak hours.

Apart from this, two routes have been identified for commencing service from Gurugram to Delhi (Dhaula Kuan and Dwarka). An arrangement of 25 buses has been made for this purpose.

As many as 81 buses are already plying on six routes in Gurugram under the City Bus Service.

The chief minister directed that suggestions from the general public should be taken while finalising routes so that maximum people could avail the benefit of this bus service.

It was also informed that all residential buildings having roof tops measuring over 100 square metres in Gurugram would have rain water harvesting systems.

Directions have been issued to ensure that water harvesting systems already installed in the buildings are operational.

Similarly, those who have not yet installed the rain water harvesting systems make arrangement for the same, for which the cost per house has been fixed by the municipal corporation.

The GMDA also approved comprehensive drainage plan for Gurugram at an estimated cost of Rs 160 crore.