The Delhi Metro’s Rithala-Narela corridor will be extended to Kundli-Nathupur in Haryana, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said on Wednesday.
The Delhi government has given a principal approval for the extension and will send the proposal to the Centre so that it can move to the tendering stage, he said.
“The total length of the metro corridor will be 23.73 kilometres, of which 2.72 kilometres will be in Haryana,” Gahlot said at a press conference.
The extension will feature 19 stations between Rithala and Narela, with two additional stations in Haryana, and will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 6,230.99 crore, he said, adding that the project is expected to be finished in four years.
The minister said the corridor will connect the rural areas of the Delhi-Haryana border to the main city as buses are the only mode of public transport there.
Commuters from these areas will now be able to reach the heart of Delhi within an hour and a half, he added.
“This extension will not only benefit the people of two villages (Kundli and Nathupur) but also all the people of the nearby villages,” Gahlot said.
The Rithala-Narela-Nathupur corridor is part of the larger Delhi Metro Phase-4 project, which includes six corridors: Mukundpur (Majlis Park)-Maujpur, Aerocity-Tughlakabad, Janakpuri West-RK Ashram, Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block, Inderlok-Indraprastha and Rithala-Narela-Nathupur.
The minister further added that under Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s leadership, by expanding the metro network, “we aim to reduce travel time, ease congestion on roads and promote the use of public transportation, which will also contribute to our ongoing efforts to combat pollution”.
Gahlot also hoped that Kejriwal, who has been in prison since March in connection with the alleged excise policy scam, would get bail soon.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s bail pleas in the matter on Thursday.
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