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Don't delay Metro Phase IV any longer, Centre tells Delhi
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SME Times News Bureau | 27 Jun, 2019
The Central government has asked the Delhi government to end the tussle
over Delhi Metro's Phase IV, which has led to the project being further
delayed, as its conditions cannot be accepted.
After the state
government held out on its conditions, Union Housing and Urban Affairs
Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra has written to state Chief Secretary
Vijay Dev, seeking a review of the decision to stop the work and lift
the embargo at the earliest in public interest.
The AAP
government had, in April, asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)
to not start the work on phase IV till the Centre revises its approval
in concurrence with the Delhi Cabinet's approval.
"In this
regard, I am directed to reiterate that DMRC would not start the work on
Delhi Metro phase IV project till the Ministry of Housing & Urban
Affairs, GOI revises the approval communicated... of the three priority
corridors of Delhi Metro Phase IV (including additional 244 cars) in
tune with the approval concurred by the Government of NCT of Delhi...,"
Delhi Government's Deputy Commissioner, MRTS, Tarun Kapoor wrote to
DMRC's General Manager, Finance, Ashu Sharma.
The Centre has now asked the Arvind Kejriwal government to agree.
Noting
that Metro's Phase IV has already been delayed by four years in want of
approval from the Delhi Government, Mishra's letter to the Delhi Chief
Secretary stated: "The directive of the GNCTD to the DMRC not to start
the work of Phase IV will further jeopardise the expansion of metro
network in the capital and leave it devoid of its benefits apart from
adding to cost and time overruns."
He also recalled that the
Union government had received the final proposal of the project in
December last year and realising the urgency of the metro expansion
under Phase IV, the Union Cabinet had, in March, granted approval to
three priority corridors.
These corridors - Aerocity to
Tughlaqabad (20.20 km), Janakpuri West to RK Ashram (28.92 km) and
Mukundpur to Maujpur (12.54 km) - were selected as they are facing
serious congestion, sources said.
Mishra's letter also said that
the AAP dispensation's condition that the Centre share the operational
losses of the project, if any, cannot be accepted as it is against the
Delhi Metro Rail Policy, 2017 and no such exception has been made to any
state or Union Territory's metro project.
"GNCTD vide its letter
dated 27.12.2018 to DMRC had granted approval on all six corridors of
phase IV, subject to the condition that operating losses, if any, are to
be shared between GOI and GNCTD in 50:50 ratio and the state government
will not bear any liability of repayment of the JICA (Japanese
International Cooperation Agency) loan. These conditions by the GNCTD
are against the norms laid down by the Delhi Metro Rail Policy, 2017 and
also what was agreed to by Delhi Government in Delhi Metro phase III
project," he said.
"You are aware that there cannot be any
special privileged condition for Delhi. All metro projects in any part
of the country are approved as per Metro Rail Policy, 2017 or practices
evolved over the years. These conditions were applied in approving Delhi
Metro Phase IV project. Hence there is no question of accepting the
recommendation by GNCTD, as mentioned above, which has not been done for
any other metro project," he added.
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