Agreement signed on extension of metro rail to Gurgaon

Gurgaon, Nov 17 (UNI) Gurgaon is going to be the first city after Delhi to have metro connectivity in the National Capital Region.

An agreement to this effect was signed here today by the Haryana Government and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in the presence of state Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and DMRC Managing Director Dr E Sreedharan.

The agreement was signed by DMRC Director (Project and Planning) C B K Rao and Haryana Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary Town and Country Planning), Mrs Shakuntala Jakhu.

The Gurgaon extension of Delhi Metro is about 14.47 kms long, of which 7.42 kms fall in Delhi and 7.05 kms in Gurgaon. The completion cost of the project from Qutab Minar to Shushant Lok (excluding taxes and duties) will be Rs 1422 crore, out of which Rs 734 crore is for Delhi segment and Rs 688 crore for Haryana segment.

There will be eight stations on the metro section__ three in Delhi (Chhatarpur, Ghitorni and Arjan Garh) and five in Gurgaon (Garden Estate, Sikandarpur, DT City Centre, IFFCO Chowk and Sushant Lok).

The project is targetted to be completed by July 2010. It will be an extension of the Metro corridor from Central Secretariat to Qutab Minar.

While the Haryana Government will bear the cost of construction and provide the land required for the project, the cost of rolling stock (trains) will be borne by DMRC. The cost of extending the Metro into Gurgaon from the Delhi border, excluding the cost of land and rolling stock, will be Rs 570 crore.

The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the corridor was submitted by DMRC to the Haryana Government in December 2004 and the Group of Ministers of the Central Government approved it on October 17, 2006.

The alignment of the Metro corridor is proposed to be mostly on the existing median of Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road from Delhi-Haryana border to IFFCO Chowk and on the median of the road from IFFCO Chowk to Sushant Lok.

Parking facilities are proposed at all the eight stations. Soil testing has already been completed for the corridor and tenders are in the process of being finalised.

Responding to media queries after the signing of the historic agreement, the Chief Minister asserted that the State Government was committed to improve the public transport system in Gurgaon.

''The government has already placed order to buy 15 new air conditioned buses and very soon these buses would start plying on Gurgaon roads,'' he added.

He said that many other modes of public transport system like Mono Rail would also be explored and introduced.

He said the Haryana Government is committed to provide metro connectivity to other NCR towns of the state. In this direction, the work of Detailed Project Reports of metro connection to Faridabad and Bahadurgarh towns are likely to be submitted to the government within two months.

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