RailEnquiry

The survey of the UT engineering department to identify residential and institutional structures falling in the proposed Metro Rail route and which required to be demolished, has nosedived even before takeoff, in want of equipment required for the work. According to sources, a team of officials was formed and assigned the said work, but it flatly refused to carry out the survey for taking the said measurements with gadgets such as measuring tape and demanded that they needed electrical tools for correct measurements.The responsibility of carrying out the survey was given to a team headed by a sub-divisional engineer. In the first week of March, the team was directed to complete the survey and submit details after physical inspection of the same in a prescribed time frame of one-week.The officials are now planning to take assistance of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for carrying out the survey.UT chief engineer SK Chadha was not available for comments despite repeated attempts.

The authorities had decided to conduct the survey after the completion of physical demarcation of the Metro Rail route. The administration undertook the task after receiving several representations from the residents of different sectors expressing apprehension about acquisition of their residential/ commercial areas.

According to the detailed project report (DPR), around 70 families in the tricity would be affected due to the construction of Metro Rail. Wooden pegs were installed on both lines that the Metro Rail would take.

The process of demarcation is yet to start in Panchkula and SAS Nagar.

The DMRC officials are yet to inspect the demarcation done. According to officials, the survey will help the authorities in ascertaining the exact number of buildings which need to be demolished.

The total length of Metro project covering Chandigarh, Panchkula and SAS Nagar is 37.57km and estimated cost of the project is Rs. 10,900 crore. The cost of the project will be shared among the Centre, Chandigarh administration and governments of Punjab and Haryana.

The first phase is expected to be operational by 2018 with construction starting in 2013. In the first phase, rail network of over 23km will be elevated while over 14km will be underground.

The corridor 1 measuring 12.497km would stretch from Capitol Complex building to Gurdwara Singh Saheed, while the second corridor of 5.076km would stretch from transport terminus to the grain market in Sector 26. The corridor 3 and 4 covers a distance of approximately 14.6km and 5km, respectively. The project will be completed in two phases.