The Hindu : New Delhi News : RWAs oppose Metro link above ground

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Friday, Jun 08, 2007
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New Delhi

RWAs oppose Metro link above ground

Staff Reporter

"Elevated tracks are destroying heritage"

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's claim that residents of the Capital are not averse to a Metro railway link above ground has come in for sharp criticism from residents' welfare associations.

The RWAs under the banner of URJA have slammed the DMRC survey suggesting that residents want the Metro link to go above the ground to avoid a delay in completion of the work before the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Wing Commander J. S. Chadda of the East of Kailash Residents' Welfare Associations' Federation and Coordinator of South Delhi URJA said: "The context of the survey is a dead giveaway. I want to meet any person who suggests that the long-term interest of Delhi should be compromised by the undue hurry of the DMRC for an eleven-day event."

Terming the survey as a "manipulation", town planner Kuldip Singh cited examples of countries where the Metro trains are underground.

He said the Metro was usurping space in the city and destroying its heritage.

"The Metro in Delhi has already finished the heritage status of the city by constructing elevated tracks and wasting hundreds of kilometres of land. It has already consumed land the size of Chandigarh," he said.

Mr. Singh went on to add that the RTV buses started as feeders along the Metro routes had congested roads in the eastern part of the city and added to the traffic woes.

"On the underground stretch from Delhi University to Central Secretariat, there is no traffic or parking problem and the Metro is easily accessible to all," he said, pointing out the benefits of an underground system.

Referring to the threat that the Yamuna waters face because of the upcoming malls on its banks, Varinder Arora of URJA said: "The DMRC is allowing malls to come up on all Metro stations and particularly near the Commonwealth Games village. Allowing malls on the Yamuna bed is an environmental hazard as that is the recharge area of the Yamuna."

People's Action president Sanjay Kaul said: "The unusual activism of the DMRC in this matter is abnormal. The Metro is for the people of Delhi and if it is expected to be running for the next 100 years, why is the DMRC so concerned about the Commonwealth Games in two years time."

Questioning the authenticity of the survey, Aplana Kishore, convenor of New Delhi People's Alliance, a collective of NGOs and associations of Delhi, said: "The survey that the DMRC has released that indicates 80 per cent public support for an overhead Metro line is invalid".

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