The much touted ‘Heritage Line’ of the Delhi Metro, which will connect Central Secretariat with Kashmere Gate, is expected to open by Independence Day. The number of barricades around the new metro stations is finally coming down after almost two years, with shop owners and locals in the congested Old Delhi area excited to see them take shape.
For Jamaluddin Khan, a shop owner in front of the historic Jama Masjid, the news is like a dream come true. “Every government only prepared projects for redeveloping our area, but nothing happened on ground.
With the Metro coming here, urban development agencies have finally woken up to our problems and are now enthused about making this place better,” he said, referring to the Jama Masjid redevelopment project approved by the Delhi government.
According to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), tunnelling work on the Heritage Line — which will include stations near monuments like Delhi Gate, Jama Masjid and the Red Fort, apart from the already functional ITO, Mandi House and Kashmere Gate stations — has been completed. “We have set an internal deadline of August 15 for the completion of the project, which is subject to mandatory clearances,” said Anuj Dayal, executive director (corporate communications), DMRC.
“Commuting will be very smooth now. But, we don’t know how much we will benefit by the Jama Masjid and Chandni Chowk redevelopment plans,” said Abdul, who owns an eatery in Daryaganj.
On Wednesday, DMRC chief Mangu Singh had announced that trial runs on the ITO-Kashmere Gate section would begin July onwards. “Civil works on the corridor are coming to an end. Making this underground stretch was not an easy task for the DMRC. There were a lot of hurdles, be it from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) or other organisations. But the change in alignment, which followed the objections, helped us reach a new engineering feat,” Mr. Singh had said.
The Central Secretariat-Kashmere Gate stretch, an extension of the Violet Line, will be a fully underground corridor of over 9.3 kilometres. “Trial runs won’t take too long since the stretch is extremely short. Hopefully, people will be able to board the Metro this time to participate in the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort,” said a Metro official. The Mandi House-ITO stretch was launched by the DMRC on June 8 last year and is currently running under single-line operation.
