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Delhi

Phase III of Delhi Metro lags behind schedule: Report

New Delhi: The ambitious Phase III of Delhi Metro is facing delays on all its under construction lines – namely Magenta, Pink, Green and Grey – with a status report by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) saying that all four lines will miss their respective deadlines.
Moreover, the Pink Line, in its entirety, is expected to be operational only in September, once the last stretch of the 58 km-long line will be thrown open.
Meanwhile, the 34-km-long Janakpuri West–Botanical Garden Magenta Line, a part of which is already open, will be completely thrown open before the end of May, according to the DMRC Phase III progress report.
The Magenta Line is "ready to be launched" after the mandatory safety clearance, which is still awaited.
On the other hand, the Pink Line – which will be Metro's longest corridor once opened – will see a staggered launch over July, August and September," said an senior DMRC official.
"The sections – Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus to Lajpat Nagar, Lajpat Nagar to Mayur Vihar Pocket-1 and Trilokpuri to Shiv Vihar – are expected to be completed by July 2018, September 2018 and August 2018 respectively... progress of civil works is 96.72 per cent," states the latest progress report.
However, "the project construction process was in the good pace and it was expected to completed before the slotted time but somehow, the project is being late and would be open for the public after the scheduled time," said the official.
Meanwhile, the under-construction Grey Line has been missing its deadline one year after another. It was expected to be operational by December 2018. Now, the latest deadline has been set for June 2019.
With further advancement of its deadline, residents of Najafgarh and its surrounding villages – through which the Grey Line passes – will not be able to get rid of disruptive construction activity, bad roads and choking traffic. Compared to its other projects, Metro has been breaching the deadline for Grey Line several times.
"Both Phase I and Phase II were shorter projects, as far as kilometres are concerned. But there is a lot more in Phase III. Deadline to start Metro services between Janakpuri West and Kalkaji on Magenta Line was in April 2018," said the official.
There is also no deadline yet to start the Magenta Line stretch between Trilokpuri and Mayur Vihar Pocket-1.
Meanwhile, deadline to start operations at the Mundka to Bahadurgarh stretch of Green Line was April, which has now been extended to May.
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