LUCKNOW: Claiming that the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh had fulfilled all the promises made in its poll manifesto five years back, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said
that his government had set an example in the country by completing almost all the projects for the development of the state in record time.
While flagging off the trial run of his dream project -- Lucknow Metro -- along with by his father and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in yet another grand Samajwadi family show the Chief Minister
said: “We kept all the promises we made in our manifesto to the people of state during 2012 Assembly elections,” adding that prestigious metro project would help rid the city of traffic snarls and
save the travel time of the commuters.
“It was imperative to put a convenient public transport system in place especially in a city Like Lucknow where traffic congestion is rising with each passing day,” said the Chief Minister.
Along with Mulayam and Akhilesh, his wife Kannauj MP Dimple Yadav, younger daughter–in-law Aprna Yadav, SP state chief Shivpal Yadav and a number of senior cabinet ministers including Azam
Khan present on the spot.
Congratulating the project chief consultant Dr E Shridharan of Delhi Metro fame, and MD, Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC), Kumar Keshav, along with the team working on the project for
the past two years, Akhilesh announced a similar project for Varanasi as well. “Today I will not ride the metro train. I will travel with the people when it will become fully operational in March,” said
the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister said that the SP government had brought about all round development in the state. “No one can match the Samajwadi Party government in terms of time-bound development of
the state,” he said naming the projects like Lucknow Metro, Lucknow-Agra Expressway, Lohia Awas Scheme, Janeshwar Gram Scheme for the development of villages.
The trial run of an estimated Rs 6,800-crore Lucknow Metro project, Phase 1-A of which was inaugurated on Thursday, coverd nearly 6.5 km from Transport Nagar. The 23-km long North-South
Corridor will have 21 stations with eight elevated ones. After completing three-months of rigorous trail runs, the primary section of Metro from Transport Nagar to Charbagh is expected to become
operational for the public on March 26, 2017.
Ambitious Lucknow Metro project is being executed by Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) which is registered under the Companies Act by the state government in 2013. While the Chief
Minister unveiled the coaches, Dimple handed over the keys for the trail run to the two lady pilots Prachi and Pratibha for the trial run.
Appreciating the Akhilesh government for the development projects taken up and accomplished in record time, Mulayam said that it was difficult to find a match for the quantum of development work done in UP under the present Samajwadi dispensation. “This government has led by example. It has brought about a huge relief to the people of the state by ensuring free education, medical treatment, and irrigation facilities to the farmers,” averred the SP chief. He welcomed the announcement of similar metro project for Varanasi which he said was needed in the holy city as it was a tourist hub.
The trail run of Lucknow Metro took off with four coaches at a speed of five km per hour which could be increased up to 10 km per hour. In the phase 1-A of the project a stretch of 7-km has been
built between Amuasi airport and Alambagh. Six metro trains will run on this stretch each being available every four minutes.
Meanwhile, the major opposition parties, including BJP, BSP and Congress reacted sharply to the flagging off ceremony saying that the Akhilesh Government was rushing with the inauguration of
incomplete projects to grab the credit which it won’t be able to do after the announcement of poll dates.