Gurugram: In 2017, when former BJP MLA Umesh Aggarwal pitched the idea for Metro expansion in Gurugram in a closed-door meeting with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, he was applauded. But not for long. His own party leaders began picking his route suggestions apart.
And then started a period of back and forth. The Metro expansion project couldn’t leave the station.
One BJP leader wanted the Metro to pass through Sector 10, while another—an MP—wanted it to be linked with Old Gurgaon and Palam Vihar, close to his support base, causing feasibility issues and the rejection of detailed project reports (DPRs) in the name of “viability”. The minutes of a 2019 meeting was precise in its detailed research—the length of the Metro was to be 28.31 km with 25 stations, 6 interchanges and a depot spread over 12.7 hectares. The total cost of the project was pitched at Rs 5,126 crore. But still, the Metro didn’t take off.
The story of Gurugram Metro stopped inexplicably at Huda City Centre for a decade. Politics, decision-making sloth and administrative inefficiency marred its march — even as Noida Metro raced ahead ambitiously, adding new stops, connecting Greater Noida and planning two more phases.
“After so much back and forth, the route was finally decided in 2019 keeping everyone’s suggestions in mind,” said a BJP Gurugram member. Then came two years of Covid. It’s only in this year’s budget that CM Khattar announced that the construction work for Metro expansion will begin in 2023-2024.
“The (BJP) government has no intention to extend the Gurugram metro. They have been misleading the public for years by promising expansion,” said Congress’ former Gurugram MLA Sukhbir Kataria.
He underlined the “infighting” among BJP leaders over the route as the reason behind the delay.
“First they said the Metro should go via Manesar. Then there were talks that it should also connect Old Gurgaon, then Palam Vihar and Sheetla Mata, which was impossible. They had no consensus,” Kataria said.
The inability of BJP leaders to come to a consensus is an open secret in political circles. Party workers impetuously talk about “political interference”.
“The political interference on finalising the route has been one of the major reasons behind the delay in expanding the Metro. Every leader, MP, MLA wants the route as per their convenience to cater to their vote base because of which DPRs were rejected,” a source in the Haryana government said.
The Old Gurgaon residents’ wait for a Metro to decongest their jammed roads has been one of patience and agony. And all they have received from the government, apart from little communication, is empty assurances. Even now, the Union Ministry of Urban Development is still preparing a proposal, which would be placed sometime at a Union Cabinet meeting.
“Had a conversation with Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri recently during the Parliament session. He has said that the draft of Old Gurgaon Metro is being sent for the approval of the Union Cabinet and soon the foundation stone will be laid,” said Gurugram MP and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Statistics and Programme Implementation, Rao Inderjit Singh.
So, is the Metro expansion on track now? There is little clarity from the government whether the routes have been finalised or not. Minister Singh refused to comment on the delay and political differences over the Metro route.
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A society’s park came in the way
One summer evening in 2020, former Jammu and Kashmir governor NN Vohra, a resident of Gurugram’s Defence Colony, was out for a stroll with his friends when he observed some men in uniform taking measurements of the society park that was frequented by the elderly citizens.
Vohra said when he asked the men why they were marking the measurements on the ground and walls, he was told that the place was going to be the footbridge of the Metro station. “That’s how we got to know (about it). There was no notice, no public announcement,” Vohra said.
Shocked, he and a few other society residents wrote to CM Khattar requesting him to reconsider the Metro route.
As per the planned route, the line coming from Kataria Chowk connecting the national highway was to pass along the boundary of Sector 17A which had the park and that’s what infuriated the residents.
“One foot of the overbridge of the Metro station was to fall in the park. We said this can’t be possible. We will not allow it,” added Vohra.
For him, the idea of bringing the Metro to the residential area was an “infringement of (residents’) privacy”.
Khattar met the residents after a month. He checked the map and promised the residents that the route would be changed. It was, and that meant more delay.
The local people, meanwhile, are upset that the Metro project remains in a limbo and the government continues to play an apathetic role despite Gurugram facing a massive traffic management crisis.
“Politics is one of the reasons behind the delay. If they expand the Metro in Old Gurgaon, then the vote back comes into play. But at least the government should have expanded the Metro from Huda City Centre to Hero Honda,” said road safety advisor and environmentalist Navdeep Singh.
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Noida Metro, a success story
On the other side, the success of Noida Metro is a story of quick approvals, sparse population and minimal political indulgence. As per the 2011 Census, Noida has a population of 637,272 compared to Gurugram’s 1,209,000. Noida started its metro in 2019 after the construction of the Aqua Line covering 29.07 km and connecting the twin cities of Noida and Greater Noida.
While the project was developed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), it was taken over by the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC). Gurgaon doesn’t have any such metro authority. Even the Rapid Metro in Gurugram is under the DMRC.
An official in the NMRC said that the Noida Metro also faced political intervention when the proposed Aqua Line, which was supposed to link Botanical Garden to Greater Noida, was changed to Sector 51.
“There were some political pressures but they were quickly resolved,” said an NMRC source.
Having a centralised nodal agency became the primary reason behind the quick completion of Noida Metro.
The NMRC was formed in 2014 under then-Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet had approved the project and forwarded the DPR to the Centre in October 2013.
According to NMRC authorities, the tenders for the project — developed under DMRC — were floated in 2016 and within two years, the Metro was up and running. It did face issues initially though — first, low ridership due to people’s unfamiliarity with the route, and then Covid-19.
“There were lesser struggles to get the clearances. Everything falls under NOIDA (authority). So, if we had to take a decision, we would directly call the CEO and get things done. It led to better coordination and cooperation,” Nisha, a communications officer at NMRC, said.
“We are soon going to connect Jewar also. Ours is a success story of good governance, vision and double engine government. The Yogi Adityanath government wanted to make Noida a part of NCR and we did whatever was required,” said BJP Gautam Buddh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma.
It is this fast-paced environment of meeting targets and a committed nodal agency fulfilling the project that Gurugram Metro has lacked from the beginning.
“Gurgaon has its own model and we can’t comment on that but yes, that city has reached saturation (in terms of population and growth). There are several problems including shortage of water,” Sharma added.
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Cautious expectation
Meanwhile, the story of Gurugram’s Rapid Metro has been one of “rapid” failure.
Constructed in two phases by IL&FS, the Gurugram Rapid Metro suffers from low ridership, high cost and poor location choices. Between October 2019 and March 2021, during which the Metro was operational on only 357 days, the total ridership was 92,49,372. The Metro operated in deficit.
Moreover, as per the 2017-2018 annual report, the Rapid Metro earned more from advertisements than passenger traffic — 60 per cent of its revenue came from ads.
An NMRC official said that in the NCR region, passenger traffic sales never help them break even. They rely more on renting out space to stores and restaurants, in addition to advertisements.
“Rapid Metro will be a success now when the new lines become operational. The DPRs were made during the time of former MLA Umesh Aggarwal, between 2014 and 2019. Two years have gone into Covid. Now we have sought permission from all the departments and within a month or two, the construction work will start,” said Gurugram MLA Sudhir Singla.
With the announcement of four new metro rails, the Gurugram residents can only wait and hope their long-pending demands would be met and the construction work would begin soon this time. The Metro will bridge the gap between Old and New Gurgaon, not just distance-wise but also in terms of parity.
“The Old Gurgaon has always been ignored. The Metro will provide much-needed attention to the area and bring some development. We are desperately waiting for the project to take off,” said Anmol, a shopkeeper and a resident of Sadar Bazar.
Presenting the state budget in February, Khattar told the Haryana legislative assembly that “the long-pending Gurugram Metro project has been approved by the Public Investment Board in the central government and final approval of the Union Cabinet is awaited”. The 28.8-km-long corridor will run from Huda City Centre to Cyber City via Old Gurgaon.
But some are sceptical, especially after so many delays earlier. And residents won’t build their hopes on humans until they see the heavy machines at work. Because the humans haven’t been at work for long.
(Edited by Prashant)