The Majlis Park-Maujpur corridor of the Ph-IV project of the Delhi Metro is expected to be completed "on schedule" by November 2024, however timelines for the other two lines may be reviewed owing to constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, senior official said on Tuesday.
At present, the DMRC is undertaking construction work on 65.2 km of three priority corridors spanning 45 stations under the project -- Janakpuri West-RK Ashram Marg (28.92 km), Majlis Park-Maujpur (12.55 km), which are extensions of the already operational Magenta Line and Pink Line respectively, and Tughalakabad-Aerocity (23.62 km) that is being built as 'Silver Line', connecting the operational Violet Line and Airport Line from the respective ends.
Interacting with reporters, DMRC Chief Vikas Kumar, in response to a query, on Tuesday said the average daily ridership in July stood at 42.64 lakh, and expressed hope that by December end, it would be able to catch up with the pre Covid figure, adding, reopening of schools, many organisations operating in hybrid mode (from office and work from home provisions) have led to improvement in figures in past few weeks.
The ridership figures for June was 41.90 lakh and for May it stood at 39.48 lakh, suggesting there is a gradual increase. Globally there has been a reduction, on an average of about 20 per cent in ridership across several metros due to Covid impact, he said. A senior official said, the pre-Covid ridership (journeys or line utilisation) was about 60 lakh. DMRC uses the metric of journey or line utilisation, which is calculated by the number of corridors passengers use to reach their destination.
The work on phase IV had begun in December 2019 with a groundbreaking ceremony, but it was hit after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 in Delhi. Kumar, when asked if he saw any cost escalation due to Covid factor, he said, he didn't see any major cost overrun as to the timelines of the Ph-IV project, but timelines might be impacted due to the pandemic. And, also due to constraints on felling of trees by the court, he said.
The Supreme Court last November had said it would not accept the submission of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), appointed by it, that all trees are not forests, and said the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) would have to get forest clearance under the Forest Conservation Act for felling of trees for phase IV of metro expansion.
The then DMRC chief Mangu Singh on March 31 had said that some of the sections of two of the three priority corridors are planned to be opened by March 2023.
"The timeline for two corridors of the Phase-4 (Tughalakabad-Aerocity and Janakpuri West-RK Ashram Marg -- extension of Magenta Line) may be reviewed owing to the Covid-induced scenario. However, the third corridor of Majlis Park-Maujpur -- Pink Line extension) will be as scheduled for November 2024. No change is anticipated on this corridor," another senior DMRC official said.
Sharing data on the status of civil work on these priority corridors, he said, on Tughalakabad-Aerocity corridor 12.37 per cent work completed, 32.40 per cent on Janakpuri West-RK Ashram Marg and 26.96 per cent on the Majlis Park-Maujpur corridor.
Two double-decker (road below, metro line above) segments would also be built as part of Ph-IV, "which we (DMRC) will build", and PWD would make their deposit (of funds).
Asked about several technical snags being reported on Delhi Metro corridors in June, particularly on the Blue Line, Kumar said, "Most of these were OHE system issues cause due to bird hit and a bird dropping something on it, so extraneous elements. In our report submitted to the Delhi transport department, we have mentioned that".
On Blue Line, more such incidents happen, perhaps, because it passes through areas where there are trees and greenery and June time is part of "season of nesting" of many birds, he said.
On incidents of a couple of sexual harassment reported recently in Delhi Metro premises, he said, CISF and other staff have been sensitised about acting readily in such situations. Yellow Line accounts for the largest segment of ridership (28.13 per cent) followed by Blue Line (22 per cent), according to data shared by officials.
On the two km-long Delhi Metro line between Dwarka Sector 21 and the upcoming India International Convention Centre (IICC), DMRC chief said, the CMRS (Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety) is expected to inspect it very soon. The DMRC’s managing director had early May said the two-km metro segment was expected to be commissioned by July-August.
-With PTI Input
