Title - Metro depot design to be finalised by Sept 30

LUCKNOW: The chairman of Metro cell and housing secretary Rajiv Agarwal along with director general of PAC visited the proposed depot site of North-South (N-S) Metro corridor at 32nd battalion of PAC on Thursday. The two officers surveyed the site to decide on the design of depot and identify buildings and structures that would fall within the range and need relocation. The duo was also accompanied by other officials of the Metro cell.The interim consultant for Metro Rail project in Lucknow - Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) - in its detailed project report (DPR) has suggested construction of the N-S corridor depot site at 32nd battalion of PAC. It had submitted the design of depot to the high-power committee headed by chief secretary Jawed Usmani on September 13.Though officials surveyed the 80 acre land of PAC for three hours, they could not finalise the design of depot. Officials claimed the buildings falling within the plan would have to be relocated and hence a new campus layout plan would have to be prepared. The finalisation of the new design of PAC campus would take about a week, they said.A senior official said, "The depot design proposed by DMRC is almost finalised but the new design of PAC campus, after incorporating all changes and relocations of existent structures, is yet to be prepared. Numerous quarters, offices and grounds fall within the depot area that would have to be relocated. This requires more consultations and time."

Officials claimed that in all likelihood the design of N-S corridor depot would be finalised by September 30. The site comprises many buildings, offices, quarters, residences and parade grounds which need to be removed and re-designed in other places. The comprehensive new campus design would be finalised next week.

An official said, "The structures are not uniformly distributed; instead they are sparsely located on the 80 acre land. It is a tough task to consider all of them in a plan. It's a time taking process and should hopefully be finalised by month end."

Rajiv Agarwal informed that the re-modeling of campus needs to be done in a way that residences and offices occupy less space. The cell is considering the option to build multistoried buildings to accommodate commandoes in them. Similarly, offices can also be set up in multi-storied buildings which occupy lesser space.

Meanwhile, the Metro cell is busy completing formalities for registering the special purpose vehicle (SPV) - Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation - under the Companies Act, after getting approval from the high-power committee on Wednesday. The SPV has been formed to execute Metro Rail project in city.

The N-S corridor of Lucknow Metro from Amausi airport to Munshipulia (approx 23km) would be built in the first phase. Its groundwork is slated to begin this December with completion expected around March 2018. The construction of the east-west (E-W) corridor from Charbagh station to Vasantkunj (approx 11km) would start after a gap of one year and expected to be completed by March 2019.