Construction of Rapid Metro Gurgaon Corridor

by Haryananewswire

CHANDIGARH, OCT 2

The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, today said that the State Government has prepared a Multi-Modal Mobility Plan to provide better transport facility to the people and the plan included introduction of metro and pod taxis.

He said that the State Government is seriously considering running pod taxi in big cities and entire Gurgaon city, including the old city, would be connected with pod taxi service.

Mr Hooda was speaking after  flagging of the trial run of Rapid Metro, an intra-city metro service, in Gurgaon which is first of its kind project on Public-Private- Partnership (PPP) model  in the country and  he also laid foundation stone of it’s extension.

          The Rapid Metro Gurgaon Corridor is being constructed at a cost of Rs. 1088 crore and it is 5.1 kilometer long. It has six stations namely  Sikanderpur, DLF phase-2, Belvedere Towers, Cyber city, Moulsari Avenue and Cyber Green Infinity Towers. The corridor is expected to be completed by March, 2013 on which metro trains will run from 5 a.m. onwards till midnight, with an interval of 4 to 5 minutes. The fare of Rapid Metro is similar to that of Delhi Metro.

          Mr Hooda also laid of foundation of Rapid Metro Extension project which will be completed by July, 2015 at an estimated cost of Rs. 2100 crore and it would also have six stations. The route length is about seven kilometers and it will cover the area of the city lying towards sector 56 from Sikanderpur Metro Station.

          The Chief Minister said that Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is partner in construction of Rapid Metro Corridor in Gurgaon since it has provided right of way for this Corridor. He said that HUDA will not be a partner in sharing the profits from this Rapid Metro and only IL & FS Company would earn profits as it has borne the finances on the project. He said that urbanization is spreading speedily in Haryana and while on  one hand the people get its benefits, on the other it has problems too. Local transport is one of them. Rapid Metro would be able to address to the need of local residents.

           He hoped that the wings of Rapid Metro would also cover the old city. Reminding the people, he said, the State Government first connected Gurgaon with Delhi by Metro and later on Metro link were sanctioned from Delhi to Faridabad and from Delhi to Bahadurgarh. Now, the State Government was making efforts to take metro towards Kundli in district Sonipat.

          Referring to the construction restricted area of 900 sq. meter around ammunition depot, Mr Hooda said, “I wish if I could help, I want to help” to the people residing in this area for many years now, in providing basic amenities like drinking water and sewerage. The Supreme Court has imposed restriction on new construction in this area. Mr Hooda said that after the stay of the Apex Court is vacated, the matter of providing basic amenities to these residents will be considered.  The matter was raised by local MP Rao Inderjeet Singh in his speech, who said that basic amenities should be provided to the people living in the restricted area as these facilities were available to Maruti Udyog Ltd. and residents of Sector 14 and 17 which also lie in the restricted zone. Rao Inderjeet Singh also requested the Chief Minister to extend Metro service in old city of Gurgaon and if required the state government should give contribution as it gave in bringing Metro to Gurgaon from Delhi.

          The Secretary of Union Urban Development Ministry Mr Sudhir Krishna said that Metro is driver of development and this facility should be provided not only in the areas which have already been developed, but should also be extended to a length of 5 to 10 kilometers in advance in other areas. He said that local buses, mini buses which can serve as feeder services to the metro were also required. For this, an Integrated Common Mobility Plan needed to be devised and the Central Government was ready to bear 50 per cent of the cost. He also said that Union Government was aiming to prepare a National Mobility Card which could be used for travelling in Metro irrespective of limits of state boundaries. He said that stations of Rapid Metro have been Integrated with DMRC stations and fare is also similar. A passenger can take a ticket from Rapid Metro Station for travelling in DMRC Metro.

          Earlier, Managing Director  of Rapid Metro Sanjiv Rai welcomed the guests and said that the trial run has been done in record time of 24 months. He said that after the Rapid Metro Extension is completed, on an average 60,000 vehicles will off the roads and it would also result in reduction of 90,000 tonnes of carbon emission into the environment. The vice- Chairman of Rapid Metro Hari Shankran proposed vote of thanks.

          Also present on the occasion were Haryana Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs, Mr Sukhbir Kataria, MLA Rao Dharampal, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr Chhatar Singh, Chief Administrator of HUDA D.P.S. Nagal, Deputy Commissioner Mr P.C. Meena, Police Commissioner Mr K.K. Sindhu,  and other senior officers and prominent personalities of the area.