Faridabad-Gurugram Metro project still on paper

Bijendra Ahlawat  

The ambitious project to link Faridabad and Gurugram with Metro rail at a cost of Rs 5,900 crore before April 2021 is still on paper.  

“The state government took more than 32 months to grant in-principle approval to the proposal first mooted in April 2016, when the Chief Minister announced to go ahead with Metro connectivity between Faridabad and Gurugram,” says Varun Sheokand, a social activist. 

He says that when the government took so long to approve the project, how one could expect it to be completed by 2021, as promised. 

Sheokand says that the announcement about the project was perhaps made to attract voters in the recent parliamentary elections and in view of the forthcoming Assembly poll. The project is not likely to be start before the upcoming Assembly elections, he adds. 

AK Gaur, a member of the Faridabad Action Group, says that as the project falls in protected forestland, it requires approval from various departments and that may not happen in such a short time. 

He says that considering the Supreme Court order to demolish the Kant Enclave colony built in the Aravalli forest area of Surajkund, the proposed Metro rail project can also get stuck or delayed. “As the proposed Metro rail project falls in low populated area, it may not meet the standard criteria of an urban transport,”  says Satender Singh, a local resident.  

Union Minister of state for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar had announced last year that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation had approved the project and the work on it would start soon. The foundation stone of the project was likely to be laid before the Assembly elections, he added. 

The Union minister had said that it was not an election gimmick and the Union Ministry of Urban Development had approved the proposal. The final cost of the project would be known after the detailed project report is prepared.

Deputy Commissioner Atul Kumar says that no meeting has been held in this regard so far.