East Delhi Metro hits land hurdle
DMRC is now planning to start making stations operational from Mukundpur instead. While earlier, the Mukundpur-Shiv Vihar corridor was set to open from the Shiv Vihar side.
Mangu Singh, managing director, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said, “The corridor will be opened in sections. Earlier, we had planned to start the corridor from Shiv Vihar since it’s an elevated track and will be completed faster. However, since commissioning of the Vinod Nagar depot will be delayed, we will now start the corridor from Mukundpur in west Delhi.”
A senior Metro official said, “The land where trees are to be replanted is not available and construction of the depot cannot start till this alternate site is sanctioned.”
The reason for the delay is lack of land. According to DMRC, the land for the Vinod Nagar depot has been handed over only on paper. This is because around 1,700 trees will be felled while constructing the depot and DMRC will in turn have to replant these trees elsewhere.
The Vinod Nagar depot will carry out maintenance work and will also function as a workshop, spread over 22 hectares, with a provision for 36 stabling lines.This land, which will be in Garhi Mandu, is occupied by farmers and they need to be evacuated before the land can be allotted to DMRC, added Delhi government sources.
West Delhi already has a functional Metro line-the Blue line (Dwarka-Noida/Vaishali) corridor goes through large parts of the area incidentally. It also has the Yellow (Jahangirpuri-HUDA city centre), Red (Dilshad Garden-Rithala) and Green (Inderlok-Mundka) lines running through it. The corridor from the Mukundpur side is mostly underground and is expected to take longer to complete.
Singh added “We are now proceeding on the premise that the corridor will become operational from Mukundpur and are prioritizing the work on the corridor accordingly. The land for the depot in Mukundpur has already been provided. Starting the corridor from that side will be easier, especially if the Vinod Nagar depot is commissioned late. “This was one of the reasons why Delhi Metro planned to commission the Mukundpur-Shiv Vihar corridoor from east Delhi, especially since that part of the city has a weak transport network.
Officials added For the Trilokpuri section, a part of the viaduct was stuck as the land belonged to DUSIB and the matter was settled only after the LG intervened. It’s not the only packet of land that has delayed parts of the corridor. According to officials, land pockets in Rajouri Garden, Raja Garden and Trilokpuri have been cleared very recently.
Source: Times of India
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