The dream of having a Metro Rail in the second capital of Maharashtra is gradually taking shape.

The Union Urban Development Ministry has assigned the job of preparing a detailed project report (DPR) to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which has already executed a project in the National Capital successfully.

The Maharashtra Government has already appointed the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), a civic development authority here, as the nodal agency for developing the Metro Rail project for Nagpur, sources said, adding the total cost of the project was estimated to be Rs 8,000 crore.

The DMRC would require nearly six months to prepare the report and are likely to cut the period. The total length of the route will be 37 km from one end in the North to other in South.

Meanwhile, a demand has cropped up here for shifting out the Central Prison in 125 acre in the heart of the city on the busy National Highway (Nagpur-Wardha).The land thus freed can be used for building modern urban infrastructure like an underground plaza station for the proposed Metro rail network, an international convention centre, a modern market or a large auditorium.

City MP, Mr Vilas Muttemwar, has written to Chief Minister, Mr Prithviraj Chavan, in this regard and urged him to convene a meeting to discuss developmental projects in the city. Mr Chavan has agreed to do so after the Budget Session of the Assembly is over.

“The Central Jail is over a century old and squats over prime land within the city. Looking at the growing needs of the fast expanding city, it is high time the State Government at least commissioned an expert consultant to prepare a techno—feasibility report on shifting the jail and using its land for meeting the city’s needs for a large market, a metro junction etc,” Mr Muttemwar, who is also General Secretary, AICC, wrote to Mr Chavan.

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