Construction of the Metro line under construction at Sector 62, Noida
A change in plan for an upcoming Metro station in Indirapuram has left residents disheartened.
Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) officials confirmed that instead of an earlier location planned in front of DPS Indirapuram, the station will now be built in front of CISF headquarters at Ahinsa khand II. This route is to be an extension of the Noida Sector 62 Metro line.
SC Dwivedi, chief engineer of GDA, said the earlier plan had to be dropped due to lack of funds. The GDA ran short after the construction of the Metro route connecting the 9.5-km stretch between Dilshad Garden and Naya Bus Adda, and the Rajnagar Extension-UP gate elevated road.
DK Maurya, general secretary, FedAOA, who is also a resident of Ahinsa Khand II, told City Spidey that residents of Indirapuram were happy that they would finally have a Metro station in their area. But now that the route has been shortened till CISF headquarters, located at one end of Indirapuram, they will continue to have to take public transport to get to the Metro.
Preeti Patwari, who was planning to buy a property near DPS Indirapuram for its proximity to the Metro, is now reconsidering the idea. There are many more whose plans have been affected by the change.
Dwivedi said that DMRC had prepared a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the original stretch of 2.66 km, from Noida Sector 62 to DPS Indirapuram in February 2015, and had demanded Rs 891 crore for the project. The rate — of about Rs 330 crore per kilometre — was higher than that paid by the Authority for the Dilshad Garden-Naya Bus Adda route. The GDA had earlier paid Rs 277 crore for it.
Thus, considering the GDA's financial situation, the Authority requested DMRC to prepare a new DPR for a shorter route from Noida Sector 62 to CISF. The new plan will be half of the route's original length, thereby reducing the cost by about 50 per cent.
The GDA confirmed that DMRC had accepted the proposed plan and that the new DPR would be prepared by the end of April, after which construction will start.
