The Hindu : New Delhi News : Ghaziabad Metro extension plan a non-starter

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Tuesday, Jan 09, 2007
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New Delhi

Ghaziabad Metro extension plan a non-starter

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

Unlike Noida, Ghaziabad Development Authority has failed to pay any money for the project till date

NEW DELHI: At a time when more and more cities are striving to jump on to the metro bandwagon, the proposed Ghaziabad extension of the Delhi Metro project has proved to be a non-starter.

And since the Ghaziabad Development Authority has not paid any money for the proposed 2-km extension to Vaishali in Uttar Pradesh from Anand Vihar in Delhi but gone ahead with the announcement of a grandiose plan to construct 33 km of metro corridor, many believe this is only being done to push up property rates in the area.

According to senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation officials, there has been no inclination from the GDA or the U.P. Government about taking the metro to Ghaziabad. Unlike Noida, which has made full payment up to April 2007 for its project, Ghaziabad has failed to pay any money for a metro extension to Vaishali.

The problem lies with the GDA that has not taken the necessary decisions and has instead been misleading people with newer announcements. Only early last month the GDA announced "finalisation" of three more metro routes to Ghaziabad. Covering a total distance of 33 km, they are to cost over Rs. 3,000 crores.

One of them is an extension of the Anand Vihar-Vaishali corridor. It has now been proposed that this line would be extended to Indirapuram and Noida Sector 62 border. From there it would travel to the upcoming Hitech City and Integrated City. To fund this line, the GDA has also proposed a Rs. 320 per square metre cess on these two townships that are together spread over 3,000 acres.

The third line is an extension of the Delhi Metro Line I and covers the 12.5 km distance from Shahdara to Ghaziabad bus stand.

A senior DMRC official said such announcements mean little till they are followed up with necessary approvals from the concerned U.P., Delhi and Central governments. Moreover, unless and until payments are released on time, such projects would continue to remain mere pipe dreams.

It was in May 2006 that the GDA had given its approval in principle for extension of the Delhi Metro rail project to Vaishali. Under the plan, a 2.05-km extension had been proposed up to Vaishali from Anand Vihar ISBT in Delhi. The line was to travel through ISBT to provide better interchange facilities at the terminal.

Thereafter the line was to cross the main road opposite Anand Vihar ISBT and enter Ghaziabad. Travelling down the main road, which is lined with major malls on either side, the line was to go up to Dabur Crossing and then enter Vaishali.

The section would have been completed in 2009 if the GDA had made the payments. For this corridor, the DMRC has sought a payment of Rs. 167 crores and nearly 2.5 hectares of land from the GDA.

However, the payments were never made. The proposal that was forwarded to Lucknow did not get the necessary approval. But DMRC officials insist it has nothing to do with the U.P. Government since it has approved of plans for metro connectivity to Noida and Greater Noida as well and payments for the same have also been made promptly.

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