Bhopal metro on track, no going back to drawing board, say officials

BHOPAL: Metro rail project for Bhopal is pretty much on track and there is no going back to drawing board, according to indications from urban administration and Metro rail officials. There has been a buzz over new Congress-led state government considering a monorail project for Bhopal over the Union government-cleared twin-track Metro project.
“The original metro rail project in Bhopal is much on the cards,” said MP Metro Rail Development Corporation Limited (MPMRCL) MD and urban administration and housing development (UAHD) principal secretary Pramod Agrawal.Agrawal inspected Bhopal metro work and alignment on Tuesday. Senior officials in MPMRCL indicate as things stand they have not been officially intimated by the government over reconsidering current metro rail project for a lighter version of mono-rail on lines of Mumbai. Days ahead of elections in the state, the Union government had cleared Bhopal and Indore metro rail projects— pegged at Rs 14000 crore— for first phase.

There were reports in a section of media in the past chief minister Kamal Nath had indicated possibility of weighing option of monorail system for Bhopal.
“There is nothing and I have not been told anything. I am not aware who is reconsidering (Bhopal Metro Project),” said an official seeking anonymity.
MPMRCL also denied reports about Bhopal Metro Rail flex on site at MP Nagar was pulled out. The barrier was for soil testing. The samples have been taken and there was no need for contractor to have the signage.
Sources said with work on tenders for first civil work package already underway, changing course is not a viable alternative. The Bhopal project comprises two corridors of total length 27.87 km — Karond Circle to AIIMS (14.99 km) and Bhadbhada Square to Ratnagiri Tiraha (12.88 km). The estimated cost of the project is Rs 6,941.40 crore and the project will be completed in four years.
Karond to AIIMS corridor will pass through the heart of city and connect densely populated areas. MPMRCL is the special purpose vehicle constituted to implement the two projects. Projects are part-funded by the Central and the state government, besides loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the New Development Bank (NDB) for Indore Metro and European Investment Bank (EIB) for the Bhopal Metro.