The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), in a press note on Monday, said that it has released ₹130 crore to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the Phase-IV metro project.
According to the DDA’s budget estimates for 2022-23, a provision ₹240 crore – out of a Rs.1000 crore grant to the DMRC that will be provided by the agency in a phased manner – was earmarked for this project.
“DDA has sanctioned funds for the implementation of metro in Narela and has released ₹130 Crores to DMRC for timely implementation of the proposed metro route. DDA is also coordinating with NHAI and DMRC for integrated construction of metro and Urban Extension Road-II for cost efficient public means of transport,” the press note stated.
However, a senior DDA official said that funds were released for the project as a whole, and not for a specific route . “The releases to the DMRC are for the Phase-IV metro and not for a single line. The issue is that not a single rupee has been spent on the ground for the Narela project, and it is still in approval stage. We are not the monitoring agency for DMRC, we are not releasing funds specifically for Narela,” the official added.
“A series of meetings were held by DDA with DMRC and other stakeholders to finalise the metro route alignment for Rithala-Bawana-Narela route, to serve the already constructed housing pockets in Narela sub-city project and also to serve the Land Pooling areas,” stated the agency’s press note.
Through the project, the DDA aims to improve connectivity and accessibility towards Narela, adding that its housing scheme in this area were less preferred in comparison to other areas in Delhi, due to the absence of a public mass rapid transportation system.
“Narela sub-city is one of the three Sub-city projects and is situated in North-West of Delhi. The sub-city is being developed to provide for the increasing housing requirement of people in Delhi and over 25,000 flats in various group housing pockets are constructed,” the agency said.
In October, last year, the DDA said that it had approved development schemes in Narela at an estimated cost of ₹824.73 crore, which include construction of roads, sewerage systems and storm water drains.
“We are still finalising the Narela project, the Urban Extension Road-II [UER-II] is coming up so we are holding meetings with the NHAI and the DMRC. This is in order for the structural stability and features of the metro to be considered. Few more meetings will be required because if all the stakeholders are on board, only then can the project be finalised. This might take close to a month,” said another senior DDA official.
