New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has again booked a disappointment for the Delhiites as the Heritage Metro line has failed to reach its deadline owing to incomplete construction. The agency, which had announced to start the operation from mid -March, now hinted that it may not to throw it open before April.
The work of corridor was expected to be done before October 2016 after its original deadline of December 2015. This project has missed several deadlines till now. “The work on the line is almost complete. The final touches will be completed by March end. Hopefully, we will get fire safety certificates soon,” said a source.
Moreover, “the Corporation is also seeking final approval from Chief Metro Rail Safety Commission which is likely to be sanctioned by this month,” he added. However, the heritage line that is expected to run from Delhi Gate – Jama Masjid, had its tunnel constructed beneath the road but now it runs beneath the heavily populated residential area.
“The alignment has been changed twice. Once it was done to adhere to the guidelines of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and second time owing to the discovery of an old buried mosque, now called Akbarabadi Mosque,” said DMRC spokesperson.
“Change in alignment is a problem as the tunnel had to be constructed beneath extremely congested areas of Daryaganj. Over 2,000 people had to be evacuated during the construction process,” he added.
The entire underground section comprises four stations – Delhi Gate, Jama Masjid, Lal Quila and Kashmere Gate. The Kashmere Gate station will become the first ever interchange facility of Delhi Metro system to provide inter-connectivity between three corridors of the network (Violet Line with Red and Yellow Lines).
Also, it will provide the ideal opportunity to explore Walled City. The Delhi Gate station, in particular will take people closer to Ambedkar and Feroz Shah Kotla stadiums, Daryaganj, LNJP Hospital and GB Pant Hospitals. Delhi Gate will be the first station which will have five entry and exits that will open up to Daryaganj, LNJP Hospital, Ambedkar and Ferozeshah Kotla stadiums and Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.
After commissioning of this section, residents of Faridabad and various south Delhi areas such as Govindpuri, Kalkaji, Nehru Place, East of Kailash etc will now directly reach Old Delhi. Commuters of the yellow line between Central Secretariat and Kashmere Gate will have an alternate way of using Violet line for reaching the same destinations.
The Heritage Line will connect ITO in central Delhi to Kashmere Gate in the North. The trials on the 5.17 km ITO–Kashmere Gate section of Violet Line started on August 10, 2016. The stretch is an extension of currently operational Escorts Mujesar (Faridabad)–ITO corridor.
(This news story has not been edited by Metro Rail News editorial team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
