Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday sought the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre’s cooperation in completing the Delhi Metro Phase-IV and expressed hope that it would soon approve the project’s three corridors which it had not earlier.
This, even as the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta accused the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government of harbouring an “anti-people attitude” towards commuters and deliberately delaying the project over three years.
The Union Cabinet had in March approved three of the six corridors proposed by the Delhi government, sidelining conditions imposed by it. Work, however, could not begin due to difference in opinion between the two governments which are equal partners in the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the commencement of construction work after the Delhi government said it had agreed to give its go-ahead to the project. Mr. Kejriwal tweeted, “I hope that the Centre will soon approve the rest three corridors. People want the construction work on Phase-IV to start at the earliest.”
“The work is stuck for several years. We should not get into who was at fault and when. Rather all should come together to complete it as soon as possible. This is what is in public interest,” the Chief Minister also wrote.
The three corridors approved by the Union Cabinet are Mukundpur-Maujpur (12.54 km), Janakpuri West-R.K. Ashram (28.92 km) and Tughlakabad-Aerocity (20.20 km).
The three corridors not approved by the Centre are Rithala-Bawana-Narela, Inderlok-Indraprastha and Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block.
The Delhi government had objected to the Centre’s decision, alleging that the Union government made some “unilateral changes” in the project, without communicating any reasons. On its part, the BJP demanded that Mr. Kejriwal apologise to citizens for his “stubbornness” regarding the project and questioned as to why the Delhi government waited for judicial intervention in the matter before agreeing to it.
“Why does his government need intervention by courts for every work of public interest that ought to be done by it? The Union government requested Mr. Kejriwal time and an again...but every time he created hurdles in its way,” Mr. Gupta alleged.
‘Anti-people attitude’
“Due to his anti-people attitude, Delhi Metro Phase-IV has been delayed by three years and it will also lead to escalation of the cost of construction... The Chief Minister should apologise to the people of Delhi for his stubborn attitude on expansion of the Delhi Metro... He did his best to stop the works and now when the Delhi Vidhan Sabha election is approaching and also after the court intervened in the matter, he has immediately given ascent,” Mr. Gupta added.
