Ghaziabad Metro | State Cabinet approves revised DPR and funding pattern for metro project

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Ghaziabad Metro | State Cabinet approves revised DPR and funding pattern for metro project

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh cabinet, headed by chief minister Yogi Adityanath, approved the revised detailed project report and the funding pattern, which is to be shared by different UP agencies, for the 9.41 kilometre Ghaziabad metro project.

The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting held in Lucknow and the revised detailed project report (DPR), estimating the cost of the project Rs2,210 crore, was approved, the official spokesperson for the UP government said. The previous cost of the project was Rs1,770 crore (as estimated in 2012) and was revised by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in 2014.

The approval of the revised DPR was pending since the tenure of the previous government, under then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. A proposal was sent in January 2016 by then vice-chairman of the Ghaziabad Development Authority to the UP government for clearance.

The approval of the revised DPR will now pave the way for a grant of Rs402.4 crore from the Government of India. The DMRC will provide Rs328 crore for the project, officials said.

Further, the cabinet also approved the funding pattern and funds sharing for the project. The funding pattern was already decided at the state level and state agencies were to share the cost of the project.

As per the approval, the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) will pitch in Rs695.8 crore and the Ghaziabad municipal corporation will contribute Rs 246.35 crore. Of the two Ghaziabad agencies, GDA has already paid its share.

Besides the two agencies, UP Avas Vikas Parishad and UP state industrial development corporation are expected to contribute Rs 440.45 crore and Rs 97 crore, respectively.

In a state-level meeting held last week in Lucknow, officials had asked the agencies to provide funds for the metro project. Officials said that the issue was pending for long and the agencies had reservations about their contribution.

UP principal secretary Mukul Singhal had also visited Ghaziabad on August 25 and said that the approval of the revised cost, DPR and the funding pattern was pending since. Following the visit, an appraisal of the project was taken up and sent for clearance to DMRC.

The 9.41km metro extension is coming up on an elevated corridor from Dilshad Garden in Delhi to New Bus Stand in Ghaziabad. In Ghaziabad, the officials have decided to construct eight stations — at Shaheed Nagar, Raj Bagh, Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala, river Hindon and New Bus Stand.

Hyderabad Metro | HMRL to start trial runs from October 15 before opening to public

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Hyderabad Metro | HMRL to start trial runs from October 15 before opening to public

Hyderabad: Trial run of Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) in the 30 km stretch, which is proposed for opening in the last week of November this year, will commence after October 15 after completion of the rail works, a senior official has said.

At HMR board held here yesterday its Managing Director NVS Reddy explained to the Board the fast paced progress of Metro Rail works in the 30 km stretch from Miyapur-Ameerpet (13 km) of corridor-I and Ameerpet-Nagole (17 km) of corridor-III, which are proposed for opening in the last week of November this year, an official release said.

Reddy assured the Board that the works in these two stretches will be completed by October 15 and the trial run of trains will commence thereafter, so that the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) can be invited for Safety Certification of the Metro Rail system between Miyapur-Ameerpet and Ameerpet-Nagole in November first week, it said.

Reddy also briefed the Board members on the engineering designs and the different stages of progress of urban rejuvenation works being carried out by HMR at the street level in 24 Metro stations which are in set up on these two stretches.

The Board advised the MD to carry out the works in a targeted manner keeping the proposed inauguration in view, it said.

S P Singh, Telangana Chief Secretary, who is also the Board Chairman, who presided over the meeting, advised the MD to give special importance on creation of good toilet facilities, quality bus-bays, electrical vehicle charging facilities.

Lauding the initiative for having a common ticket and smart card facility for Metro Rail, Bus, MMTS and other modes, the Chairman advised Reddy to go for the latest technologies and tie up with one or two good banks for convenience of the passengers, it added.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the 30-km-long first phase of Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) project, while he is in the city to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit from November 28 to 30.

Lucknow Metro | LMRC begins tunneling works from Sachivalaya towards Hussainganj

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Lucknow Metro | LMRC begins tunneling works from Sachivalaya towards Hussainganj

Lucknow: The Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) today started the tunnelling work of its Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) “Gomti” from Sachivalaya towards Hussainganj. It started with an auspicious “Pooja” ceremony performed by Shri Daljeet Singh, Director (Work & Infrastructure), senior officials and engineers and officials from the General Consultants to LMRC.

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Lucknow Metro begins tunneling work from Sachivalaya

TBM “Gomti” has now started excavating earth for 600 metre Up Line from Sachivalaya to Hussainganj and it will complete this tunnelling by December, 2017.

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Metro Rail Projects Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM)

The other TBM “Ganga” is also expected to start its initial drive for 610 metre Down Line between Sachivalaya and Hussainganj in next four weekstime.

Varanasi turns showcase for metro rail and multi-model transport terminals

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Varanasi turns showcase for metro rail and multi-model transport terminals

New Delhi: Varanasi which is small, congested city of around 82sq. km on the banks of the river Ganga has emerged as the showcase for India’s next generation urban infrastructure schemes.

These range from a metro rail, a multimodal terminal, logistics parks, waterways, even a pod taxi project to ease congestion on the city’s chaotic streets. Given the importance of rice cultivation in the Uttar Pradesh, an International Rice Research Institute is also being set up at Varanasi, which is represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha and was included in the second phase of the government’s Smart Cities Mission.

“Varanasi is the heart of Uttar Pradesh and the city has importance from several aspects—tourism, religion and politics, apart from being the prime minister’s constituency. That’s one of the reasons the centre is keen on developing it and presenting it as a model city,” said a Union government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Proposed investments range from a staggering Rs20,000 crore for the metro rail system to a more modest Rs170 crore for the multimodal transport terminal and Rs1,000 crore for a so-called freight village. Other projects on the anvil include a Rs300 crore railway station redevelopment one, a Rs153 crore sewage treatment plant, a Rs100 crore pod taxi project, and a Rs211 crore convention centre.

A majority of these projects are coming up with central government assistance.

Varanasi is among three cities shortlisted for testing a rapid transport systems using pod cars—driverless vehicles that run along a pre-determined course.

The government’s focus on Varanasi hasn’t lost on lending agencies such as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which inked a 2,240 million yen (around Rs130 crore) grant agreement last week for the construction of the Varanasi International Cooperation and Convention Centre (VCC).

To be sure, experts believe that the planned transformation may take some time.

“Given the complexity of land acquisition in India, and especially in Varanasi which is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, implementing such infrastructure projects will be a challenge and will be slow. However, each of these projects will contribute to significantly transforming Varanasi,” said Jaijit Bhattacharya, partner and head, economics, regulatory and policy advisory, KPMG in India.

Queries emailed to the prime minister’s office and the ministries of urban development and agriculture remained unanswered.

The importance of Varanasi and Ganga was apparent in the recent cabinet reshuffle, with Nitin Gadkari given charge of the ministry of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation to deliver on the key election pledge of cleaning the Ganga before the next general election in 2019.

The 2,525-km river which flows through Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand is also of key electoral importance as these states account for approximately 167 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Varanasi is also playing a key role in the National Waterway-1 (NW-1) programme on the river Ganga under the Jal Marg Vikas Project with a multimodal terminal being developed there.

“Varanasi is strategically located with a huge potential to facilitate the transshipment of domestic and export-import freight,” said Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) which is implementing the ambitious project in an emailed response.

“The project will connect the landlocked state of Uttar Pradesh to the South-east Asian countries through National Waterway 1 on river Ganga via the Bay of Bengal. National Waterway 1 will also provide seamless connectivity for cargo movement from Varanasi to country’s North-eastern region via Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route,” IWAI added.

Delhi Metro | DMRC to upgrade ticketing technology to provide seamless journey to commuters

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Delhi Metro | DMRC to upgrade ticketing technology to provide seamless journey to commuters

New Delhi: In a bid to provide seamless journey to the commuters, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is going to upgrade the ticketing technology and has invited the expression of interest for implementation of EMV (Europay, MasterCard, and Visa) and RuPay based open loop ticketing in DMRC including comprehensive maintenance of automatic fare collection (AFC) system of Phase 1, 2, and 3 stations.

The Delhi Metro envisages upgrading the existing AFC system to enable the EMV, a technical standard for smart cards, EMV, and RuPay based open loop ticketing following the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) model.

The NCMC model is specified by the ministry of housing and urban affairs for interoperability with other operators by use of non-proprietary standards so that the interface is scalable to other networks such as transit operator, retail outlets, parking, etc. in Delhi-NCR.

“The existing AFC technology and infrastructure (hardware and software including Back Office and external interfaces) needs to be updated accordingly,” said sources.

This facility will be launched in the coming months with the aim of providing an open loop card payment system that would enable multi-model transport ticketing. A commuter will be able to travel on various modes of transport using a single ticket. The advanced card, which will look like an ATM card, can be swiped at the machines installed at the Metro rail stations to begin the journey on Delhi Metro.

This facility will enable a passenger to order commodities while travelling in Delhi Metro and collect the goods from a particular Metro rail station.

The Delhi Metro is a rail system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, and Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region in India.

Globally, there is no nationwide common card, except in Singapore, wherein interoperability is confined to the city only.

Metro Rail News launches part-time week end based online editorial work scheme

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Metro Rail News launches part-time week end based online editorial work scheme

On the occasion of first foundation day of Symbroj Media Pvt. Limited, the Metro Rail News editorial team is proud to announce its worldwide project of connecting working and non-working professionals, journalists, railway & public transport engineers, research associates, freelance writers and engineering / management students on an intellectual platform. This scheme also encourage youngsters to improve their editorial / writing skills and learn about benefits of green metro systems, smart public transport, their role in global climate change, smart cities, chronicle development in technology and involved strategies & policies.

Scheme overview
This scheme is formulated to give online editorial opportunities to freelance writers, working professionals, engineering and management students, and research associates to get paid work on part-time week end project basis and to collect quality articles for metro rail news readers.

Compensation & payment mode
Rs.2000.00 or equivalent currency per article. The payments will be released on the last day of month for the article we accepted & approved for publication.

Word limits
We don’t care about the number of words as long as the quality is maintained. We have seen & written quality articles in the range of 2500 to 5000 words. It’s up to you how you put together your words to complete an awesome article.

Topic & duration to complete the article
Every fortnight the registered member will receive article topics in their registered e-mail box. They have to submit quality article on relevant topics within 15 days from the date of announcement of topics.

Click here to know registration process and rules

CM Yogi announces new metro rail projects for three more cities of the state

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CM Yogi announces new metro rail projects for three more cities of the state

Lucknow: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday announced the State government will soon introduce metro rail services in Meerut, Kanpur and Varanasi. Addressing the media at a press conference marking six months of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state, the Chief Minister also said the government will soon bring in new industrial policies in the state.

CM Adityanath also said the government has successfully formed an anti-land mafia force to tackle the menace. Adityanath said, “We’re launching systematic drive which will help the Government retrieve 1000 hectares of land which have been in grips of land mafia since years.”  From newer uniforms in primary schools to law and order situation, here are things the Uttar Pradesh CM said at the press conference:

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Lucknow Metro flagged off for commercial run

lg.php?bannerid=0&campaignid=0&zoneid=3049&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.india.com%2Fnews%2Findia%2F6 months of yogi raj metro services in meerut kanpur varanasi allahabad soon announces cm adityanath at press conference 2482670%2F&referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co

  • It was priority to rid UP of jungle raj. Happy that hard work by ministers has instilled sense of confidence in people
  • It is the responsibility of the Government to answer the public
  • Casteism and dynasty rule has ruined Uttar Pradesh until now, but in the BJP, there is no space for them
  • For the farmers, the BJP has worked largely for the welfare of the farmers
  • Has waived the loans of 86 lakh farmers
  • The Government brought 35 lakh metric tonnes of wheat directly from the farmers
  • For welfare of farmers, we started the system to provide them tube wells & solar pumps
  • The Government aims to provide employment to 10 lakh youth within the state
  • Skill development programmes will also largely help in employing the youth
  • Government is also working to link E-Office
  • Anti-Land Mafia Task Force has been created to check the menace
  • Systematic drive to help the Government retrieve 1000 hectares of land which have been in grips of land mafia is being planned
  • Government identified more than 35 lakh ration cards as fake, out of which over 30 lakh cards have been cancelled
  • The Government is also making efforts to make roads in Uttar Pradesh free of potholes and has successfully made more than 80,000 kilometer roads pothole-free
  • The ‘School Chalo’ Programme has been successful in Basic education
  • Following changes in curriculum, enrollment into schools will increase
  • The government will also provide sweaters to children during the winters
  • Major parts of the state lacked access to electricity, with more than one crore families with no electricity connection
  • The BJP government has provided free electricity connection to more than 16 lakh families in just six months
  • Free education for girl students will be initiated soon
  • Will promote LED lights across the state to save electricity

CM Yogi also emphasised that the Government provided relief to the more than 30 lakh people affected by the recent floods. He said the government supplied ration packets as relief to more than seven lakh families.

Following recent incidents of death in the state due to encephalitis, he said the government has also made arrangements for treatment of encephalitis.

In terms of infrastructure, the government is also working on to construct the Bundelkhand Expressway. The CM said work for the Purvanchal Expressway will also be initiated and Uttar Pradesh government is corresponding with the Central government in this matter.
Metro services will be introduced in Kanpur and Agra soon.

The CM also boasted how after March 2017, there has not been a single incident of riot. Aditynath said, “Prior to that, we had seen cases of riots taking place in the state.”

UP Govt to set up Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation for new metro projects

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UP Govt to set up Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation for new metro projects

Lucknow: With the centre insisting on a unified metro rail authority in states for overseeing all future metro projects, the Uttar Pradesh Government is ready with the draft blueprint of a dedicated regulatory body.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath set the ball rolling on September 5 when he announced the setting up of UP Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC). “We have submitted the proposal for the corporation and it is now being vetted by the law department,” confirmed a housing department official, adding that the regulatory body would be modelled on the lines of Maha-Metro Rail Corporation of Maharashtra. UP had nine metro rail projects in various stages under its belt and so there was an urgent need for such an umbrella body to supervise them, he said.

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Union Home Minister Sh Raj Nath Singh and CM Sh Yogi Aditya Nath flagged off the first metro train for commercial run

“Ours is the only state in the country which has so many metro rail projects going on in various cities at the same time. Since these are major capital intensive projects and require a lot of coordination with other departments for power, land and other infrastructure facilities, a separate body to supervise and manage these ventures was required,” he said.

Like the Urban Mass Transit Company (UMTC), a consultancy partner of the Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), this authority too would have metro rail, transport experts, planning and engineering professionals as members. The authority, besides ensuring execution of metro rail projects, would also advise the state government on various other urban transport and mobility solutions.

The organisation’s head would be the chief secretary or an officer equal in rank. The authority would be under the administrative control of the UP Housing Town and Country Planning Department, whose principle secretary would be its member secretary.

Metro rail projects are presently underway in Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Noida and Greater Noida. While the foundation stone for Kanpur metro has already been laid, RITES (Rail India Technical and Engineering Services) is preparing the DPRs of Agra, Meerut and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency, Varanasi. Work to draft the metro rail blueprint is also on in UP CM’s constituency Gorakhpur and Allahabad.

The UP government has already appointed ‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan as its principal advisor for all metro rail ventures in the State. Till this full-fledged body takes a formal shape, the state government has appointed Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation – a special purpose vehicle overseeing the implementation of Lucknow Metro Rail project – as the nodal agency for the proposed Gorakhpur, Agra, Varanasi, Kanpur and Meerut metro rail projects.

“The LMRC is dominated by ex- DMRC experts and is hard pressed to monitor other projects with its skeleton work force. It has just initiated the process of hiring more staff to take care of its own day-to-day affairs and operations,” said an LMRC official.

Metro Rail News signs MoU with Global Transport Forum Ltd London

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Metro Rail News signs MoU with Global Transport Forum Ltd London

In last week Metro Rail News Managing Editor Ms. Mamta Shah signed a Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) with a UK based company Global Transport Forum Limited, London to promote their all series of events to be organised in the year 2018.

Global Transport Forum Limited, London in association with Metro Rail News (A division of Symbroj Media Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi) is going to organised three big events in the year 2018.

SafeRail
11th-12th June 2018, Washington D.C.

SmartRail
17th-18th April 2018, Amsterdam

Transport Security & Safety Expo
11th-12th June 2018. Washington D.C.

The rail industry is in the midst of an exciting evolution with technology now playing a key role in creating the safe and sustainable rail networks of the future.

While signing the agreement, Global Transport Forum representative Mr. Lance Morgan said, “We are proud to be the only global community dedicated to driving innovation and supporting you to meet these evolving challenges. With our news portal and knowledge centre in the name of Smart Rail World and our 7 year track record of running industry leading congresses and exhibitions, we understand the specific challenges you are facing. We work closely with our Working Groups and Advisory Boards to deliver in depth strategic, technical and operational content that allows you to share best practice, extend your network and do business”.

Metro Rail News is an exclusive and leading online news portal which provides complete and up to date information like project updates, tender, events & job notices, passenger information, media interviews etc. from various mass rapid transit systems like metro railways, mono rail, high speed bullet trains, sub-ways, trams, metro coach factories and associated industries in India. Metro Rail News offers business, advertisement and media partnership opportunities to the individuals, business organizations, event planners, metro railways, OEMs and coach factories worldwide.

Hyderabad Metro | HMRL plans to link metro pillars with GPS system

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Hyderabad Metro | HMRL plans to link metro pillars with GPS system

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) authorities have decided to give a unique numbering to pillars on the corridor and link them with global positioning system (GPS) so that people can easily identify the locations.

This will be a step forward to make Hyderabad a tourist-friendly city with convenience for everyone to easily identify locations on the Metro rail corridors and direction signages for different roads and areas, HMR’s Managing Director N V S Reddy said in a release issued in Hyderabad. Reddy on Sunday held a meeting with senior officials of the project at the Metro Rail Bhavan in the city.

The Metro pillars will have an alpha-numeric numbering. The numbering will start from the point of beginning, corridor wise, it said. The sign posts of global standard with sufficiently big fonts in both English and Telugu will be placed at several locations and approach areas of a Metro station, it said. The maps of nearby colonies and prominent locations of the city will also be displayed, it said. Presently, there are 2,748 pillars in all the three corridors of the Metro project in the city, the release said.

Hyderabad Metro Rail

Since each Metro station has four entry/exits, they will be designated as gate 1, gate 2, gate 3 and gate 4 clockwise, starting from the first gate on the left side in the direction of the corridor. In cities like Tokyo which have numerous gates leading to different avenues, it becomes very easy for anyone to come to the exact location of a Metro station with gate numbering, Reddy said.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the 30-km-long first phase of Hyderabad Metro Rail project, when he is expected to be in the city to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit from November 28 to 30.

The 72-km elevated Hyderabad Metro Rail project, being developed by L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad, will have three corridors and 66 stations, an HMR official said. All the facilities at a Metro station, including the location of service lanes, bus bays, auto bays, e-vehicle bays, parking locations, toilets, entry/exit indicators and direction boards to nearby colonies, will be prominently displayed, Reddy said. He invited suggestions from people on the HMR’s website for making Hyderabad a visitor-friendly city.

Appreciating the initiative, state Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao said that adoption of such global practices will make Hyderabad an attractive city and improve its ranking in ease of doing business, the release added.

UD Minister Puri releases new Metro Rail Policy 2017 officially

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UD Minister Puri releases new Metro Rail Policy 2017 officially

New Delhi: Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday released the new Metro Rail Policy that focuses on minimising the use of personal motorised transport and provides “useful guidance on making viable metro rail proposals”.

The policy was approved by the Union Cabinet last month. Expressing concern over poor public transport infrastructure in cities, Puri stressed on the need for integrated land use and transport planning with the objective of promoting compact and dense urban development to minimise the use of personal motorised transport.

“It is difficult to imagine Delhi without Metro Rail which is now carrying about 30 lakh passengers every day,” he said.

The Minister’s observation came at a national dissemination workshop on new Metro Rail Policy that was attended by senior officials from different states and chief executives of Metro Rail Corporations from across the country.

New Metro Rail Policy Cover
Govt. of India approved new Metro Rail Policy 2017

“The new Metro Rail Policy provides useful guidance on making viable metro rail proposals. Sanctioning an unviable proposal tends to pull down the entire system of a city,” he added.

Stating that Metro Rail is not an end in itself to solve urban mobility problems but only one of the means, Puri called for a holistic approach with proper integration of various modes of transport based on local context.

He observed that while the developed countries are going back to cycles, developing countries like India are relying more on cars. Noting that there were 825 million cars in the world in 2010 and this is expected to rise to 1,600 million in 2035 and to 2,100 million in 2050 with the potential of bringing cities to a grinding halt, he said that investment in developing cycling and walking pathways makes good urban investment.

Expressing concern over what he called the “crisis-like situation” with regard to urban mobility, Puri urged all the states to set up Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities (UMTA) in all the 53 cities with over million population to ensure integration among all modes of transport on a regional basis.

The Minister noted only 14 cities have set up UMTA so far though the National Urban Transport Policy in 2006 prescribed it..

Agra Metro | Centre rejects detailed project report of metro rail in City

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Agra Metro | Centre rejects detailed project report of metro rail in City

Agra: Central government has rejected detailed project report (DPR) of Agra metro rail development project. Now, Agra Development Authority (ADA) will have to prepare new DPR in accordance with the norms of the metro rail policy 2017 laid down by the ministry of urban development. For this, initial survey will start soon.

Yogendra Kumar, officer on special duty, ADA said, “Detailed guidelines regarding Agra metro rail development project are awaited.

Following which initial survey will be initiated. DPR will be prepared afresh based on latest metro rail policy laid down by ministry.”

ADA sources said around Rs 2.5 crore was spent on preparing the DPR.

Patna Metro | Bihar Govt. to start ambitious Patna metro project in 2019

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Patna Metro | Bihar Govt. to start ambitious Patna metro project in 2019

Patna: State urban development and housing department minister Suresh Kumar Sharma on Friday said work on Patna metro rail project would commence from 2019. To begin with, the six-km long stretch between Mithapur and proposed inter-state bus terminal on Patna-Gaya Road will be covered, the minister added.

“The Centre recently came up with a new policy for execution of metro rail projects in the country. Accordingly, we have asked RITES, an agency of Indian Railways, to tweak the existing detailed project report (DPR) for Patna metro rail project as per the provisions of the new metro policy. We are expecting the DPR to be revised in six months, following which it would be submitted to the Centre.

We are intending to commence work on the first phase of the project by 2019,” Sharma said.

The DPR for proposed metro rail in Patna, entailing an estimated expenditure of Rs 16,960 crore was given an in-principle approval by CM Nitish Kumar on December 22 last year. The state cabinet had approved the project on February 9 this year. The metro rail proposal talks about two corridors in the first phase covering a distance of 31km.

The first corridor would be an east-west corridor, which would run from Mithapur bus stand to Saguna Mor via Bailey Road and Patna Junction, covering a distance of 14.5km. The second corridor, on the other hand, is a north-south corridor, which would run from Patna Junction to proposed bus stand at Bairiya on Patna-Gaya road via Ashok Rajpath, Gandhi Maidan and Rajendra Nagar Terminal, covering a distance of 16.5km.

Metro rail apart, Sharma also issued instructions to all urban local bodies in the state to improve sanitation in order to ensure better ranking in ‘Swachch Sarvekshan’ of the central government. Sharma was speaking on the sidelines of a workshop organised by urban development department for 27 ULBs in the state on ‘Swachch Sarvekshan, 2017’.

The minister also announced that toilets would be constructed in all urban local bodies in the state by December 31 this year as part of open-defecation free campaign. “We would also construct roads in all wards in the urban areas in the state within one-and-a-half-years under ‘Nali Gali’ scheme of the state government,” Sharma said.
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