CHANDIGARH: The saga of metro construction in Chandigarh continues, though the chances of the city getting a metro anytime soon have all but vanished. Until the first half of this year, the metro was seen as the promised solution to the worsening traffic and parking woes of the Tricity. However, by the end of the year, this outlook changed dramatically as questions were raised about the project’s financial viability.
The city does not have adequate ridership numbers to support a metro system, said Union minister of power and housing & urban affairs, Manohar Lal Khattar, in a press conference held in Chandigarh on Nov 8.
“Solutions are being explored, including an underground, elevated, or mixed metro system, with viability depending largely on projected ridership. Chandigarh does not have the ridership numbers required to run a metro project. In addition to the cost of establishing the metro project, one must also consider the operational cost and financial sustainability of the project,” he said.
The last word on the metro project, however, is yet to be said, and the new year might bring another twist in the metro saga, as the government has already floated new ideas like ‘Pod Taxi‘ as an alternative to the metro.
Supporting the idea, Khattar, in the same press conference, said, “This would be in harmony with the city’s heritage and infrastructure, as it can be created on the road dividers.”
In pursuance of the decisions taken in the third meeting of Unified Metro Transportation Authority (UMTA) held in Sep this year, the Chandigarh administration constituted a committee to thoroughly study the feasibility of the project.
This includes reviewing CAG reports on other metro projects. The committee is tasked with submitting a report on whether the metro is financially viable in Chandigarh or if alternative means of transport should be explored to decongest traffic in the city.
The estimated construction cost of the metro project is around Rs 21,179 crore, according to the alternative analysis report (AAR) submitted by the Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited (RITES) in July this year. The completion cost, factoring in escalation and taxes, will be approximately Rs 24,142 crore.
Besides, there will be land costs and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. The land costs have not yet been estimated and will be determined during the formulation of the detailed project report (DPR). The O&M costs are projected to be Rs 633 crore in 2031, rising to Rs 3,799 crore by 2056. The construction of the metro is expected to take about four years and six months.
Earlier, the UMTA approved Phase 1 of the project, which is proposed to extend 77 km, covering three corridors.
