NEW DELHI: The opening of the Najafgarh-Dhansa Bus Stand extension of Grey Line of the Delhi Metro has been postponed for about two weeks due to issues with an approach road to the station, officials said on Wednesday.
The extension line was scheduled to be inaugurated on August 6 along with a segment of the Pink Line at Trilokpuri by Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Sources in the Delhi transport department said the condition of the approach road to the Dhansa Bus Stand Metro Station was "not even accessible to the public" let alone being motorable.
On May 20, a large portion of the road along with the footpath near the site of construction of the station had caved in due to heavy rains, prompting the city Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot to order a probe into the incident.
Gahlot, next day, inspected the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) site at the Dhansa Stand Metro Station and Khaira Crossing where the cave-in had occurred.
Sources, quoting Gahlot said, a cave-in had also occured in May 2020, and the DMRC had been submitting different timelines for completion of work and to restore the road for normal traffic, but the"assured timelines were never met".
Meanwhile, the DMRC when contacted said, the opening of the Najafgarh-Dhansa Bus Stand Metro section of the Grey Line is "being postponed for about two weeks' time since the completion of a vital road providing access to the station from a part of the nearby localities is pending".
A portion of a vital road link connecting Khaira Mor with Gopal Nagar had to be blocked for heavy vehicles due to the construction work on the reversal facility beyond the Dhansa Bus Stand Station.
However, following the completion of tunneling work in the reversal area, the road is now being restored and will be ready soon which will facilitate easy access to the station from various interior areas beyond Najafgarh, the DMRC said.
The date of inauguration of the Najafgarh-Dhansa Bus Stand section will be intimated shortly following the completion of this pending work. Meanwhile, the inauguration of the Trilokpuri section on Pink Line will be held on Friday as announced earlier, a spokesperson of DMRC said.
The Union minister for housing and urban affairs and the Delhi chief minister were slated to open the two sections via video conferencing, the DMRC had said on Sunday. While the inauguration function will be held online in the morning on August 6, passenger services will commence on the same day at 3 PM on both the sections, it had said.
But, as the Grey Line extension been deferred, only Pink Line section will be opened to the public. The nearly one kilometre-long (891 m) Najafgarh-Dhansa Bus Stand section will take the metro further into the interior areas of Najafgarh.
This extension of the over 4.2-km Grey Line (Dwarka-Najafgarh corridor) will immensely benefit the residents of the interior areas around Najafgarh, which is steeped in history. The Dwarka-Najafgarh corridor was opened in October 2019, which had connected the urban village area of Najafgarh to the rapid transit network for the first time.
The upcoming Dhansa Bus Stand Station has been adorned with attractive artworks and photographs, which display the rich heritage, culture, flora and fauna of this suburban locality of the national capital.
The opening of the Trilokpuri section, about 289 m, between the Mayur Vihar Pocket 1 and Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake stations, will fully link the entire 59 km-long Pink Line and will connect important landmarks of the city, such as the Anand Vihar Railway Station, Anand Vihar ISBT, Nizamuddin Railway Station, markets in South Extension, INA and Lajpat Nagar, officials said.
The Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor or the Pink Line spans 38 stations.