New Delhi: In a move that will provide connectivity to the far-flung areas of the national capital like Bawana, Narela, Burari to the Delhi Airport, the Delhi Cabinet on Friday approved the over 100-kilometre expansion of the Delhi Metro’s network in its fourth phase. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a tweet, said the decision will “go a long way” in reducing congestion and pollution in the city. “A big decision by Cabinet today,” he tweeted.
With the completion of 103.93-km-long Phase IV, the total length of the metro corridor in the city will cross the 450-km mark. Its Detailed Project Report (DPR) was cleared in June 2016. The mega project, as part of which 72 new stations will be built, will cost over Rs 50,000 crore, which is to be borne equally by the state and the Centre, deputy chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.
The project now awaits the Centre’s approval, post which it will take six years to be constructed. “The next clearance has to be given by the Union government. Once it is done, work will start. The project will come up within six years of initiation of construction work,” Mr Sisodia said.
The proposed corridors are Rithala-Narela (21.73 km), Inderlok –Indrap-rastha (12.58 km), Tughlakabad–Aerocity (20.20 km), Lajpat Nagar–Saket G-Block (7.96 km), Janakpuri (west)-RK Ashram (28.92 km) and Mukundpur-Maujpur (12.54 km). While as per the revised DPR, the Tughlakabad line was to stretch till Terminal 1 of the Airport, the proposal cleared by the Cabinet says it will end one station before that.
“Some changes have been made,” Mr Sisodia said, when asked about the changes brought in the final approved version of the project.
Of its total length, 67 km would be elevated and the rest underground, Mr Sisodia said, adding that the mass rapid transit’s ridership will increase by about 8.5 lakh once it is operational. “Monthly progress report of the project will be submitted to the Delhi government,” Mr Sisodia said.
Earlier in June, the DPR prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was cleared despite demands by a few MLAs for bringing about minor tweaks in the routes.The length of the currently operational corridors is around 213 km and Phase III, which will see a staggered launch in 2017, will add another 140 km to it. The phase will also go deeper into Old Delhi to areas such as Sadar Bazar. Out of the six corridors, four will be new and two will be the extension of the present corridors.
