Chennai: Delay in land acquisition and non-performance of a contractor are said to be the major reasons for the Chennai Metro Rail missing its deadline.
Answering a question in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu said the original date of completion was March 2015, but due to land acquisition delays and non-performance of a contractor leading to re-tendering, the project missed this deadline.
But the reply itself presented two different deadlines for the project. It stated that the “expected schedule of completion” as December 2016 and the “approved date of completion” as December 2017.
The re-tendering work here refers to the termination of the contract of Gammon India by Chennai Metro Rail after its partner, Russian firm Mosmetrostroy, abandoned the project.
The contract was terminated due to tardy progress of work. Soon after the termination, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) floated fresh tenders for the work.
Chennai Metro Rail, estimated to cost Rs. 14,600 crore, sprawls over 45 km of the city. Of this, 24 km will be underground and the remaining 21 km elevated.
So far, Rs. 6,597 crore has been released over three years for this project.
The phase I extension of Chennai Metro Rail from Washermanpet to Wimco Nagar was granted sanction only recently.
The extension, expected to cost around Rs. 3,700 crore, is a 9-km stretch that runs partly underground and is partly elevated. CMRL is in the process of finalising consultants for this stretch.
THANK U ALL CONCERNED FOR THE EFFORT PUT IN FOR REALIZING THE DREAM OF CHENNAI METRO (NORTH). FURTHER EXTENSION UPTO ATHIPATTU ENNORE HARBOUR MAY ALSO BE CONSIDERED.