Sreedharan reviews Lucknow Metro's progress, assures CM of meeting deadlines

Lucknow  :  Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation's (LMRC) principal advisor E. Sreedharan visited the state capital on Saturday to review the progress of the ongoing North-South Corridor (Phase 1A)

The 23-km-long route runs from the Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport to Munshipulia on the other side of the city.

Sreedharan, along with LMRC Managing Director Kumar Keshav, later met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and briefed him about the progress. 

"The work of the Lucknow Metro Phase 1A corridor is going on very well and the target shall be well achieved within the stipulated time-frame," ASreedharan assured Adityanath, officials said.

The Chief Minister was also briefed about the developments on the upcoming metro projects in Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Allahabad. Sreedharan said that the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of Metro Rail Projects in these cities will also be submitted by LMRC to the state government very soon. 

Adityanath expressed his eagerness to start Metro in other cities of the state and he assured that the approval of the DPRs of Kanpur, Agra and Meerut will be expedited by the Central government so that the metro projects could be taken up in a fast manner in other cities as well.

The Uttar Pradesh government had already forwarded the revised DPRs of these cities to the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry on January 25 this year for approval, an official said.

The LMRC had coordinated preparation of the revised DPRs of the Metro Rail Projects in Kanpur, Agra, Meerut, Varanasi, Gorakhpur and Allahabad.

Sreedharan and Keshav also met Chief Secretary Rajeev Kumar who suggested they lso look for the alternate modes of low-cost Mass Rapid Transit System in urban transport while studying and recommending MRTS for these cities in the DPR.

Sreedharan told him that "cost-optimisation" is already in progress and it will form a part of the revised DPR for these cities. He further requested transfer of 150 acres of CG City land to LMRC for property development. 

For financial viability of the Lucknow Metro Rail Project, property development activities form an integral part of the non-farebox revenue generation, he said.