New Delhi: With construction work of Delhi Metro’s Phase-IV corridors—six corridors spanning over 110 km—expected to be completed by 2029, the planning process for Phase-V has begun, Vikas Kumar, managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) told ThePrint.
In an interview, Kumar said that there is a need to develop a strong transport system in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) to meet future mobility challenges due to rapid urbanisation.
“It is said that by 2030, nearly 42 percent of India’s population will be living in urbanised areas. Delhi-NCR is also witnessing fast-paced urbanisation, and to tackle mobility challenges in the future, we need a strong transportation backbone. We need these (new) corridors. I would say that Phase-V (of Delhi Metro) is definitely on the anvil and the government will take a decision,” Kumar said.
Currently, the Delhi Metro has around 395 km of operational network across Delhi and NCR. In December 2019, it started work on Phase-IV under which six corridors are proposed.
Though the plan for Metro’s Phase-V is in nascent stages, Kumar said that selection of new corridors will be aimed at densifying the existing network.
“It will be a mix of both—densification of the existing network and planning transit-oriented-development in new areas. The idea is to develop a dense network so that maximum people can use it,” said Kumar. “We are working on it along with the government (Centre and state), as the alignment has to be decided by them.”
Meanwhile, sources in the Central government said that the plans are being prepared for extending for some of the existing corridors.
For instance, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is exploring the possibility of extending the under-construction 12.3 km Inderlok-Indraprastha metro corridor till South Block to decongest central Delhi. ThePrint had reported about the Centre’s proposed plan in December last year.
A seven kilometre-long underground metro corridor is being proposed to connect all the 10 new government office buildings, India Gate, Bharat Mandapam and proposed Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum at North and South blocks with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)’s 400 km operational network, a senior ministry official had told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.
Ministry sources said that a final decision on the metro connectivity plan is yet to be taken.
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Phase-IV to be completed by 2029
The work on Phase-IV, which started in December 2019, has been marred by delays due to various reasons, including the Covid pandemic.
“There were delays initially due to the pandemic, and then delays in permission for tree cutting (from the Delhi government). But all these issues have now been sorted,” said Kumar.
Of the six corridors in Phase IV, three corridors—Maujpur to Majlis Park (12.3 km), Krishna Park Extension to Ramakrishna Ashram Marg (26.5 km) and Delhi Aerocity to Tughlakabad (23.6 km)—are being developed as priority corridors.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a small section of a priority corridor (Krishna Park Extension to Ramakrishna Ashram Marg) in January, the three corridors are expected to be ready by December 2026, said Kumar.
The remaining three—Inderlok to Indraprastha, Lajpat Nagar to Saket G block and Rithala to Kundli—which were approved by the Union Cabinet last year, will be completed by 2029, he added.
The prime minister had laid the foundation stone for the 26 km-long Rithala-to-Kundli corridor in January ahead of the Delhi assembly elections.
(Edited by Sudha V)
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