The Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) is likely to construct the proposed link between Noida’s sector 71 and Greater Noida West, officials said on Friday.
Greater Noida Authority Chief Executive Officer Narendra Bhooshan said there have been discussion in this regard and that a final decision will be taken soon.
If approved, it will be NMRC’s first project. While the NMRC was formed to build the 29.7-km long Noida-Greater Noida Metro Link, also known as the Aqua Line, but it did not have the required expertise then.
Now the agency says it has recruited around 650 staff, including technical experts and administrative professionals trained by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The metro agency will soon recruit more professionals to anage the entire Aqua Line, which is expected to be opened to the public by the end of this year.
“We had to rope in DMRC to construct the Aqua line because we didn’t have the required expertise. Now the situation is different because we have adequate experience and required staff to construct the project on our own. If the Noida and Greater Noida authorties ask us, then we will construct this (Noida-Greater Noida west) project. But the decision has to be taken by the two authorities,” said P D Upadhyay executive director of the NMRC.
The Metro project was stalled in 2017 on the ground that the route was not economically viable considering the low population in the areas located along the proposed route. With Greater Noida becoming a hub of housing complexes, the Authority decided to revisit the project.
“People have started shifting into their respective housing societies. Therefore, we need to provide them public transport system. We will discuss the details related with this Metro link in our upcoming board meeting scheduled on December 3,” said Bhooshan.
The Greater Noida Authority and Noida Authority CEOs are likely to decide on the funding pattern of the proposed link.
“Since this is a new project aimed at connecting Noida’s sector 71 with Greater Noida West’s Kisan Chowk area there is a need to conduct a survey and then decide the route length which will be in Noida and Greater Noida. The two authorities can share project cost on the basis of the length that falls into two cities. But the final decision can be taken in the board meeting only,” said a Noida authority official.
The further progress of this project will take place once it is approved in the board meeting and subsequently by the Uttar Pradesh government.
Around 50,000 families who have shifted into more than a dozen housing complexes in Greater Noida West demand that the work on this project should be fast tracked.
“The public transport system in Greater Noida West is in pathetic state. The government needs to provide a safe and reliable public transport system to people here. We hope the government will work on it on priority basis,” said Vivek Raman a businessman and a resident of Gaur City, Greater Noida West.
First Published: Nov 24, 2018 13:50 IST
