Odisha metro plans to keep promise in time
The Naveen Patnaik government’s decision to have its own metro rail service in the next four years is a bold statement of intent. Planned at an estimated Rs 6,500 crore, the Bhubaneswar metro rail project is billed as the single largest investment in Odisha’s infrastructure and would be entirely funded by the state government. Connecting Bhubaneswar airport to Trishulia on the state capital’s outskirts, a single elevated line will run for 26.4 km covering 20 stations. Chief Minister Patnaik is expected to lay the foundation stone for the project, which received the nod of the state cabinet earlier this month, on the first day of 2024. The government has already roped in Delhi Metro Rail Corporation as its consultant for the project which aspires to transform the state’s transport sector and put it in the league of top cities in India that boast of a mass rapid transit system.
The Biju Janata Dal had included the metro project in its manifesto for the 2019 general elections; by keeping its word, the party has shown that it is willing to walk the talk. The project seeks to cover the capital region at the right time, as an expanding Bhubaneswar seems to be bursting at the seams with the massive pressure of urbanisation. With vehicular population growing in two-digit percentages year on year, the metro will not only improve urban mobility and de-congest the existing carriageways, but also reduce the demand for more roads. Another positive aspect would be the environmental benefits that would add more years to the life of the capital city.
As it sets the capital metro project in motion, the Odisha government is also looking at a master plan to bring Cuttack, Khurda and Puri under its ambit. This will help the state develop the entire area as its foremost metropolitan region and have an accelerator effect on other projects that can spur further economic growth. A major challenge for the government will be to navigate the issues of land and heterogeneous urban settings on the project map. At this point, the four-year deadline for the Bhubaneswar metro may seem daunting. But it is achievable knowing the BJD government’s ability to put key infrastructure projects on a fast-forward mode, as it has done at times over the last decade.