New Delhi, India: An ambitious metro project, envisaging a mass rapid transport system in major urban centres of the country, is expected to be unveiled soon, based on a paper drafted by Delhi Metro Rail Managing Director E Sreedharan.

The policy will not only look at making the wannabe metro projects in six-seven major cities financially viable but also examine issues like legal cover and better coordination among various departments, officials said.

"The metro mapping plan is in its final stages. The Public Investment Board is scheduled to meet on May 20 to finalise the monies to be set aside for the various projects," Sreedharan said.

"The Cabinet will then take it up for a final clearance," Sreedharan told the agency.

According to officials coordinating the policy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is taking a personal interest in metro projects as part of his grand urban renewal plan covering some 60 large cities, including the metropolitan centres.

Sreedharan's policy paper says the metro projects currently being planned in various cities add up to a mere 250-odd km of mass rapid transport system network, compared to China's 1,500 km over the same period.

"Unless India builds 8-10 km of metro systems per year, there is no hope for survival of our big cities," says Sreedharan, the man behind the Konkan Rail Project, considered an engineering marvel, given the difficult terrain.

Among the hurdles identified for a metro explosion are the lack of legal cover for the construction, development and operation of the projects and limited financial support.

"But for the projects in the metropolitan cities, all others have been planned without legal cover. The Urban Development Ministry is drafting a comprehensive metro rail act, which is taking some time," Sreedharan said.

His policy paper says metro projects need at least 20 per cent funding from the Central government, estimated at Rs 70 billion ($1.6 billion), while the rest can be raised by the concerned states and from the market.

The paper also finds the absence of a dedicated ministry for metro projects a major hurdle since coordination between the ministries of urban development and the railways is a "nightmare".

Officials said detailed project reports for metros have been completed for 33 km in Bangalore, 38 km in Hyderabad, seven kilometres in Noida and 16 km in Gurgaon.

In the case of Mumbai, while the master plan for 60.8 km of metro has been finalised, the detailed project report is in progress. For Chennai, only a feasibility study for a total of 66.76 km has been done.

The sources said detailed project report is also being currently prepared for 18.65 km of the east-west corridor in Kolkata, 23 km in Kochi and 12.5 km in Ghaziabad.

"As far as I am concerned, most cities earmarked have shown great enthusiasm. Bangalore, in fact, has finalised the designs," Sreedharan said.

Source:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1344529,000600010001.htm