BHUBANESWAR: The state government will now study metro rail projects of other cities in the country to make the Bhubaneswar metro plan viable and also make a decision on whether the project should be taken up as an elevated corridor and underground network.
Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra on Sunday said the metro rail project in its current form was not feasible and the state government has constituted an inter-ministerial committee to examine all the aspects to enable a sustainable roadmap. The project will also now be be taken up with support and aid from the Centre, he said.
“Why would anyone travel to Trisulia from Bhubaneswar in a metro?” the minister asked while restating the government’s intention to expand the project up to Cuttack to make public transport between the twin cities more expansive and convenient.
“The committee constituted by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and led by deputy CM Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo has already met on July 16 and will meet again soon to study alternative models. The committee will visit different places where metros are operational to find ways to make the Bhubaneswar metro project viable and decide whether it should be an underground or elevated corridor model,” the minister added.
He also said that unlike the previous government, the BJP government will seek Centre’s help and support to execute the project. The minister’s reaction came following a recent revelation of Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu in Lok Sabha that a total 17 metro rail proposals have been received and sanctioned by the Centre in last five years and the list doesn’t include any proposal from Odisha.
The phase-I project, spanning 26-km from Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar to Trisulia in Cuttack, had been planned to be developed at a cost of Rs 6,225 crore. However, the new government has suspended all the ongoing work in its bid to re-examine the project and expand it to Cuttack. The detailed project report of the metro is also being reworked.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), engaged as the turn-key consultant, has scrapped tenders awarded to Ranjit Buildcon Ltd and Ceigall India Ltd to take up the ground work of the project in phase-I.