Title - Officials mull change in Metro design

Ludhiana: City residents whose land falls on corridor two of the Ludhiana Metro rail project need not worry as officials from the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) are making efforts to change the design mentioned in the detailed project report (DPR) prepared in 2008.For this purpose, they are planning to reduce the total area required for the construction of parking lots for Metro stations on Gill Road. Which means comparatively less amount of land will be acquired.The Gill Road area has a large number of shops and for the construction of corridor two, many of these shops were to be acquired. If there is a change in the new DPR, it will bring some respite to the area shopkeepers.Accompanied by municipal corporation officials, RG Sharma, Assistant General Manager of the DMRC, visited the proposed sites for setting up stations on corridor two. The visit is aimed at finalising the DPR.The officials also want to change the site of the Metro maintenance depot, which, as per the existing DPR, was in Gill village. During these four years (from 2008 to 2012), a large number of houses have been constructed around this site. To reduce the complications in land acquisition, the officials have now proposed that the maintenance depot can be constructed before the entry to Gill village.

The height of corridor two near the Sidhwan Canal will also be increased as a flyover has come up there. The newly constructed flyover is part of the Sidhwan Canal expressway project.

During today’s visit, the team members also discussed that the alignment of corridor two should be changed at Gill Chowk because a flyover has been constructed there. The Metro will be underground on Gill Road, but at Gill Chowk, instead of a straight alignment, it has been proposed that the alignment should be a little curved.

Due to a religious building in Basti Jodhewal Chowk, the officials proposed that the design of the proposed Metro station here should be changed.

The present DPR was prepared by the DMRC in 2008 and needs to be updated because four years have passed since then. The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation conducted a fresh survey and discussed it during a meeting held in New Delhi on August 22. It was during this meeting that it was decided that DMRC officials will visit the city. 

CORRIDOR 2 TO HAVE 13 STATIONS

Corridor two is 13.035-km long. It will start from Gill village and end at the Rahon Road octroi post. The corridor will have 13 stations, including seven underground. Corridor one is 15.798-km long. It will start from Ayali Chowk on Ferozepur Road and will go till the BBMB powerhouse on Chandigarh Road. It will have 14 stations, including four underground.

The corridors will be elevated as the Metro rail will run some 26 ft above the ground level and in the underground corridor, the Metro rail will run 15 to 20 metre below the ground.

OFFICIAL SPEAK

Rakesh Kumar Verma, MC Commissioner and Managing Director of the Ludhiana Metro Rail Corporation, said the DMRC Assistant General Manager had visited both corridors. “During his visit, the existing DPR as well as our recently conducted survey report were discussed. The AGM will discuss all issues with his seniors, after which the final DPR will be prepared.”