M.P. govt asks DMRC for metro project report

Madhya Pradesh government has asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to submit within six months a comprehensive report on feasibility of launching metro rail service in Indore and Bhopal.

“The Chief Minister, Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has urged the DMRC to submit a detailed project report (DPR) for introducing metro rail in Bhopal and Indore within six months,” the Urban Administration and Development Minister, Mr Babulal Gaur, told reporters today.

Three corridors each are proposed for metros in Bhopal and Indore under the first phase.

A DMRC team yesterday made a detailed presentation about the viability of the project to the State government.

The government has already made a payment of Rs 1 crore to the DMRC for preparing DPR and will soon be paying additional Rs 2 crore for the purpose.

The total cost of preparing DPR is pegged at Rs 6 crore, and the remaining amount will be borne by the Centre, Mr Gaur said.

The total length proposed for the metro rail line is 29 km in three corridors in Bhopal in the first phase while it will be around 32-33 km in Indore.

The estimated cost of Bhopal metro is around Rs 8,000 crore and Rs 8,500 crore for Indore, the Urban Administration and Development Department's Principal Secretary, Mr S.P.S. Parihar, said.

Under three corridors proposed for Bhopal, there will be ten stations between Kapila Nagar and Habibganj, and nine each in the second and the third corridor from Suruchi Nagar to BHEL and Lal Ghati to Platinum Plaza, respectively.

According to the presentation, four lakh commuters will avail benefit of the metro service and Rs 44 lakh will be generated daily in terms of revenue, Mr Parihar added.

Similarly, three corridors are also proposed for Indore metro rail service. The first corridor of 8.9 km will be from Annapurna to Sukhalia, the second from MR-10 to Ring Road having length of 11.7 km and the third will be from Niranjanpur to Bhanwarkuan, with a length of 11.47 km.

The DMRC presentation pointed out that population of Bhopal is growing at the rate of 3.03 per cent and the total count will be 21.68 lakh by 2016 and 24.54 lakh by 2021.

According to a study, metro rail service will ease pressure on nearly 21 roads in Bhopal, with relief from smoke and pollution as additional bonanza.

The metro will substantially bring down travelling time and road accidents, it said.

For meeting the cost of the project, resources from the Centre and loans from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) can be availed, Mr Gaur said, quoting the presentation report.