Despite Centre’s reluctance, state minister assures metro link along Dwarka Expressway

Reiterating Haryana government’s earlier assertion, state public works department (PWD) minister Rao Narbir Singh said on Monday that the state government is going ahead with its plan to build a metro line along the Northern Peripheral Road (NPR), which is also known as the Dwarka Expressway.

The state government has been keen to build a metro corridor along NPR as a large number of people working in Gurgaon are expected to settle along the expressway and a mass transport system will be important.

“Dwarka Expressway (NPR) will be 16-laned and this project will be completed within the next two years….Metro facility will also be provided along with the expressway, and underground parking facility would be provided at the new metro stations,” Singh said at a press conference in Chandigarh.

He added that the metro will be built as per a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy that mandates the presence of a mass rapid transport system (metro) along a corridor such as NPR, which is expected to become a real estate and commercial hub.

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had spoken of construction of a metro line along the NPR during the Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit in March last year. It was also decided that the NPR will become a national highway.

The responsibility of the expressway was later transferred from the Haryana urban development authority (Huda) to the Union ministry of road transport and highways.

However, the ministry had expressed its reservations regarding the proposed metro link due to pending legal issues related to the expressway and shifting of essential infrastructure lines that would be required.

The long-pending expressway was expected to be completed by 2010 but has missed seven deadlines since then. Legal issues related to allotment of new plots to land owners in New Palam Vihar and Kherki Daula whose lands fall on NPR’s route are yet to be resolved.

In further meetings, the Union ministry’s officials also expressed their reservations about moving water, power and drainage lines for the metro link as most utility lines had already been laid and new plans had to be made for the layout.

However, Singh said that PWD officials had provided ministry officials with details and blueprints of the NPR and future expansion work or alignments would be done under a streamlined process.