BHUBANESWAR: Housing and Urban Development minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra has said the government is planning to extend the proposed metro rail project in the capital region up to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
After reviewing the implementation of the project, Mahapatra said on Thursday that process has been initiated to prepare a new detailed project report (DPR) for implementation of the metro rail project that will connect Bhubaneswar with Cuttack in the first phase. He, however, said that the revised plan will go beyond the previously decided route of Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar to Trisulia in Cuttack.
Raising questions on the route finalised by the previous government, Mahapatra asked as to what benefit people would have got from metro connecting the Bhubaneswar airport to Trisulia in the first phase. “People will be benefited if the route is extended up to the bus stand and the SCB MCH to offer last mile connectivity.
We are working in that direction,” he said. The minister said the project will be taken up in the city with support from the Centre. The state government had planned to take up the phase-I metro project of the 26-km-long stretch between BPIA to Trisulia at an investment of `6,225 crore. The foundation stone for the project has been laid at Ratagada Lenka Sahi near Trisulia on January 1, 2024.
However, ground work for phase-I construction of the project has been partially halted since March, as the state government is working to come up with a fresh DPR to extend the project route and facilitate a flyover on the elevated corridor along Jayadev Vihar to Nandankanan stretch.
The minister said a high-level committee comprising technical experts is conducting the survey and exploring the best possible route for the metro project. The DPR will be prepared based on the survey report. He said it will also include the flyover project.
As per sources, the flyover will be constructed at a height of around eight metres from the road, while the metro track will be 14 metres above the ground.