Grounding Vizag Metro Rail project awaits nod from Centre
Centre sought clarifications on the double-decker plan through Hanumantavakka and other junctions sometime ago
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Visakhapatnam: The kickstarting of work on the ambitious Visakhapatnam Metro Rail Project with double-deckers flyover system stretching over 20 km may take some more time with the Centre studying various technicalities.
The Centre sought clarifications on the double-decker plan through Hanumantavakka and other junctions sometime ago, which experience heavy traffic congestion..The metro rail project first phase is proposed at Rs11,500 crore covering 46.23 km with three corridors and 42 stops.
The project is mooted as a 50:50 joint venture between the Centre and the State Government with separate corridors from Vizag Steel Plant (Kurmannapapalem Junction) to Kommadi, Gurudwara to Old Post Office and Thateichetlapalem to China Waltair. Besides government funding, a major part will be pooled up from private investors/financial institutions. The district administration has identified nearly 100 acres is required to be acquired for the project.
During his recent visit to Visakhapatnam, Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development P Narayana said the project is under active consideration of the Union Government with a study by RITES Limited expected to be ready in two months.
The Minister said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is keen on fast-tracking the implementation of the project due to rising traffic and focus on industrialisation in the city. Visakhapatnam Economic Region (VER) and Vizag Bay City Project under the patronage of NITI Aayog is expected to raise the GSDP manifold in the next five years. Narayana said the timeline fixed for completion of metro project is three years from commencement of work. VER envisages nine districts with Visakhapatnam as the main economic hub to have $125 billion to $135 billion economy by 2032 and $750 billion to $800 billion by 2047. The Centre is expected to extend a support to the tune of $5,000 crore along with an integrated development plan for Rs28,000-crore by promoting IT, data centres, tourism, infrastructure and port-led development.
"Connectivity is a challenging task for which the government needs to prioritise various projects. The highway widening from Lankalapalem to Anandapuram should be raised to 100 ft to decongest traffic," Visakhapatnam Stevedores' Association (VSA) president G. Sambasiva Rao told Bizz Buzz on Friday.
The Revised DPR for the metro rail submitted by the State Government pruning the size of investment with minimal land acquisition and elevated corridors wherever feasible is inow being circulated among 12 ministries concerned for their feedback before Public Investment Board for its consent. Union Minister for Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu recently said the Centre will give green signal to the take up the project soon as connectivity through infrastructure augmentation has remained on top of the agenda of the Central Government.
The project assumes importance with the GMR Group announcing their decision to launch commercial operations of Bhogapuram International Airport, 45 km from the city centre, in June, six months ahead of schedule. EPC tender for maiden civil works worth Rs.6,250 crore. was issued last year.
