Ggm Metro extension work begins, board holds first meet
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the Gurugram metro project on February 16 in Rewari
The first borehole to carry out the geo-technical survey for the Gurugram metro project was dug on Wednesday near the Millennium City metro station, officials aware of the matter said.
The Gurugram Metro Rail Limited (GMRL), the special purpose vehicle, which has been formed to execute the metro project also held its first board meeting on Wednesday in which it was decided that the company will appoint a full-time managing director after the model code of conduct is lifted. It was decided that a new logo and tagline will be created for the Gurugram metro, for which a competition will be held soon.
The Gurugram Metro extension project will cover a distance of 28.5 kilometres from Huda City Centre to Cyber City, via Subhash Chowk, Krishna Chowk and Sector 22. The route will have 27 stops, including an interchange station. The cost of the entire Metro project is estimated at ₹5,450 crore. It will also have a spur to Dwarka expressway.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the Gurugram metro project on February 16 in Rewari.
“The first board meeting of the GMRL was held today and it was decided that the company will have a full-time managing director, who will be appointed after the model code of conduct is revoked after the Lok Sabha polls. This was the first board meeting and all formalities related to taking over the project by GMRL from HMRTC were also completed,” said a senior government official, aware of the matter.
Currently, TL Satyaprakash, managing director of the Haryana Mass Rapid Transport Corporation (HMRTC), who is also the chief administrator, HSVP, has been appointed as the managing director of GMRL while D Thara, additional secretary, Union ministry of housing and urban affairs has been appointed as the chairperson.
The official further said that in the meeting, chairperson D Thara also asked the GMRL to focus on transit-oriented development along the proposed metro line. “It was decided that the metro authority will work in close coordination with the department of town and country planning to ensure that residents living in the hinterland are benefitted from the metro extension,” he said, adding that monetisation of land and development of infrastructure along the line will also be key objectives.
Prime Minister Modi on February 16 had laid the foundation stone of the Gurugram metro extension project from Huda City metro station now called Millennium City Centre metro station to Cyber Hub in a 26.65 km loop that would cover the entire old Gurugram. It also approved a 1.85 km spur to the newly-inaugurated Dwarka expressway.
Referring to the geo-technical survey that began on Wednesday in Gurugram, the official said that the first borehole has been dug near the Millennium City metro station earlier known as HUDA metro station. “We expect this work to be completed in four to five months and it will be initially conducted for the first 14 kilometres. As part of the geo-technical survey, the consultant will provide a complete description of the soil and rocks along with the test result and analysis for every km of the stretch. It will include digging boreholes in rocks underground, conducting standard penetration tests, collecting soil samples from boreholes and recording the water table,” the official said.
The GMRL board also decided that a competition will soon be held to design a logo for the Gurugram metro and to choose a tagline. “This competition will be announced soon. It has also been decided that the decision on appointing a detailed design consultant will be taken within a month,” the official said.
The proposed 28.5-km Gurugram metro project will have 27 elevated metro stations at Sector 45, Cyber Park, Sector 46, Sector 47, Sector 48, Technology Park, Udyog Vihar Phase 6, Sector 10, Sector 37, Basai, Sector 9, Sector 7, Sector 4, Sector 5, Ashok Vihar, Sector 3, Krishna Chowk, Palam Vihar Extension, Palam Vihar, Sector 23 A, Sector 22, and Udyog Vihar Phase 4.
The Gurugram metro project was conceived in 2017 and it has been on the drawing board since then. The project has been delayed due to multiple changes in the route alignment and delay in finalisation of the detailed project report (DPR). Residents of the city have been demanding a metro rail in Gurugram for several years as they have to remain dependent on private vehicles to commute within the city in the absence of a quality mass transport system.
