New Delhi   

Residents oppose move to shift Metro station

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's decision to shift the proposed Metro station from New Ashok Nagar to Sector 15 Noida has angered the people living in the vicinity.

The residents' welfare associations claim that the reasons cited by the DMRC for changing the location of the station are unsatisfactory. "We filed a petition under the Right to Information Act to know the reason for altering the plans, but the explanation that the DMRC has put forth is unfounded," said Dr. Rajendra Dayal, coordinator of the East End Apartments Residents' Welfare Association.

In reply to the petition, the DMRC claimed to have proposed shifting of the station because of several factors including low population density, difficulty in procuring land, existence of water bodies and technical infeasibility.

But the RWAs representing New Ashok Nagar, Vasundhra Enclave, East End Apartments and Mayur Kunj have rejected these concerns as "unfounded".

"There are no water bodies on either side, one side of the station is New Ashok Nagar and on the other is East End Apartment CGHS. The satellite pictures of the area clearly show how densely populated it is. Over 2.5 lakh people reside in the vicinity," said Dr. Dayal.

The residents also allege that the land that was selected for construction of the station is a vacant plot owned by the DDA and therefore procuring it should not be a problem for the DMRC.

"By not constructing the station at New Ashok Nagar, the DMRC is flouting its own norms -- of maintaining a distance of 1.5 km between two stations. The station at Sector 15 Noida will be about 3 km away from the station at Mayur Vihar Phase I. To approach either of the two stations, residents will have to travel a minimum distance of about 1.5 km to 2 km," said the members of the Save New Ashok Nagar Metro Station Forum that has been formed by the RWA members.

Public meeting

The Forum members, who are organising a public meeting this Sunday to seek wider support for their demands, said that it was peculiar that first the DMRC found the site at New Ashok Nagar feasible and even awarded the contract to a construction company for building the station, but now finds it technically infeasible.

"Initially when the Metro rail was terminating at New Ashok Nagar, we were required to have a station at the end of the line. Now with the service being extended to Noida, we have decided to shift the station to Sector 15, which is in close proximity to the earlier proposed station. But since we have been apprised of the situation and we will review the decision," said DMRC Chief Public Relations Officer Anuj Dayal.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

St. Stephen's cut-off list out
New courses from Jamia
Residents oppose move to shift Metro station
AIIMS urged to focus on `real issues'
DUTA up in arms against department shifting
Court restrains SBI officers
They offered lifts, then robbed

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu