Madhya Pradesh will soon join member states Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Delhi-NCR in the Metro Rail club. And the IAS officer who is leading the state into joining this club is Ms. Chhavi Bhardwaj. Currently, she is the Managing Director of Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MPMRCL).
Under her leadership, work on the metro construction project took off at a breakneck speed and is almost nearing completion. Metro trains are now scheduled to start from next year in the state. During an interview to Indian Masterminds, the officer talked about the two metro projects in MP and the challenges she has faced in them.
EXCERPTS FROM THE INTERVIEW
What are the projects currently going on under Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (MPMRCL)?
We have metro plan for two major cities in Madhya Pradesh. One is in Indore and other one in the state’s capital, Bhopal. Both the projects are currently going on. In Bhopal, we have two corridors covering almost an entire stretch of 30 kms. Similarly, the project going on in Indore covers a 31.5 kms stretch.
How long will it take for the metro to be up and running in Madhya Pradesh?
It was important for us to take a time limit and commission the project. However, completing the entire project in both the cities will take time. So, we are focusing on commissioning the first segment, or you can say, the priority corridors. In Bhopal, the corridor runs from AIIMS to Shubash Nagar, covering a 7 km stretch. While in Indore, the corridor is of 17 km, running between Radission Square to Airport with 15 stations in between. We have already recovered the backlog in construction and are hopeful to commence metro trains from September 2023.
Will this project connect the whole city?
Our aim is to ensure better connectivity and respectively cheaper mode of public transport for the people. With the completion of priority corridors in both the cities, people from various parts of the city would be able to come to the commercial centres and premier health institutions. Since Bhopal is more widely spread, so we will have to complete the entire 30 km stretch in order to connect the whole city. Still the 7 km corridor will reach a lot of people.
Since Bhopal is an old and crowded city, did you face challenges in terms of construction?
The 7 km corridor which is on priority spreads over the newer part of the city, locally called New Bhopal. This part is comparatively clear, so it was not difficult, as there was very less issues of removal or reinstallation during the construction. In most of the segments, we easily got ROWs (type of easement over the land for transportation) along the median of the road. However, in the centre of Bhopal, we have taken 3 km underground segment, as there was no possibility of cutting through it.
What about Indore?
We had to take 7 km underground segment in the heart of Indore. Although the cost of constructing underground metro is thrice the cost of the elevated one, in congested areas where the possibility is zero, we are going ahead with underground metro. Municipal Corporation is there to coordinate and help us. So, we hope to complete the project in time.
