GHAZIABAD: GDA vice-chairperson Kanchan Verma held a meeting with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) officials on Wednesday to take stock of the progress on the Dilshad Garden-New Bus Stand metro corridor. It has been learnt that DMRC has given a November deadline for commissioning of the project, on which trial runs are currently underway. Apart from this, traffic management along the route was also discussed in the meeting.“DMRC has assured us that it will complete the trial runs by the end of by November. After that, it will be in a position to start full-fledged operations on the Dilshad Garden-New Bus stand metro corridor,” Verma told TOI. “We have also asked DMRC to submit the final cost estimate to GDA in one week, so that we can push for Centre’s share of Rs 402 crore for the project, which is awaiting the Union cabinet’s approval,” Verma added.GDA officials said DMRC may not provide feeder bus connectivity to stations, and in view of this, GDA is planning to talk to other departments to fill in the gap. “Once the corridor opens, traffic management will be a challenge. Since DMRC is reluctant to providing feeder bus service, we will have to talk to other agencies,” the vice-chairperson said.Talks also centered around two proposed metro extensions — Noida Sector 62 to Sahibabad and Vaishali to Mohan Nagar corridors. “Since work on both extension lines can’t be undertaken simultaneously, we will have to decide which section should be prioritised. We hope that a decision is made by next week. Funding of Phase 3 still remains a contentious issue. Except the Centre, which has pledged to bear 20% of the total cost of the project, all stakeholder agencies have shown reluctance to contribute, and that needs to be ironed out with the state government,” Verma added.The Dilshad Garden-New Bus Stand metro corridor would be the second metro line in Ghaziabad after Vaishali and the first metro link connecting the interiors of Ghaziabad.This corridor will pass through the Sahibabad Industrial Area and will significantly impact the residential areas lying in proximity. The MoU for the project was signed between GDA and DMRC in 2014. Though it was expected to be completed in three years’ time, there was a one-year delay to start the work. Also, construction of this corridor was a major challenge as it runs along the busy GT Road. Most of the construction activities, including the launching of girders, had to be carried out during night hours.

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