Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday said that it would soon give clearance for the Delhi Metro’s long-pending Phase-IV project.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Majlis Park-Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus section of the Pink Line on Wednesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said: “Metro is the lifeline of Delhi, and it is an important mode of transport for the city.
The Delhi government will soon give clearance for the Phase-IV project. There are issues of financial viability on some of routes.”
Kejriwal was speaking at Metro Bhawan in the presence of Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs (Independent Charge) Hardeep Singh Puri, who jointly flagged off the Pink Line Metro.
Puri had recently said that the city government was sitting on the Delhi Metro’s Phase-IV project for the last three years.
With the inauguration of 21.56 km-long Majlis Park-Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus section, the Delhi Metro’s operational network expanded to 252 km.
For the first time, the new corridor has connected the north and south campuses of the Delhi University, on the Metro network, which can be commuted in 40 minutes.
The Urban Affairs Minister had said: “We are finding a solution. The solution is where we are not getting support from the Delhi government over the Metro projects, we have decided that we will do it ourselves. Rail corridors, we will do on our own.
“If they (Delhi government) are not willing to approve a project or provide funding, we are finding out a solution for it,” Puri had added.
The newly-opened section, which has 12 stations, is part of the 59 km-long Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor (Pink Line/Line 7) of Delhi Metro’s Phase-III.
The stations falling on the operational stretch are ~ Majlis Park, Azadpur, Shalimar Bagh, Netaji Subhash Place, Shakurpur, Punjabi Bagh West, ESI Hospital, Rajouri Garden, Mayapuri, Naraina Vihar, Delhi Cantt and Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus.
Azadpur Station (with Yellow Line) is one of the three interchange stations on the Pink Line stretch that opened today, the other two being, Netaji Subhash Place (with Red Line) and Rajouri Garden (Blue Line).