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No approval granted to run Metro underground in Chandigarh, says Centre
Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs’ response comes following MP Manish Tewari’s question in the Parliament
The long-awaited Tricity Metro project seems to be on shaky ground, as on Thursday, the Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs stated that no approval had been granted to run the Metro project underground anywhere in Chandigarh.
During the ongoing Parliament session, Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari asked whether it was a fact that the Union government had approved Metro project to run underground only in the heritage sectors of Chandigarh and not the whole city.
In response to the question, minister of state for housing and urban affairs Tokhan Sahu replied in negative.
In addition to the first question, Tewari also sought details of phase-wise timeline of completion and the rationale why the city was being divided in two in the name of heritage. He further asked whether the aesthetics of Chandigarh beyond the heritage sectors were considered less important.
Tewari also demanded the details of the funds sanctioned, released and to be utilised for the completion of the Metro project. In the last question, he asked whether there were any pending clearances that the project was yet to receive.
After saying no to the first question, Sahu stated question did not arise for the subsequent questions.
Later, in a post on social media, Tewari said look at the length of the questions and the size of the answer. “No Metro for Chandigarh despite promises for 10 years,” he said.
On November 18 this year, Union minister of power and housing and urban affairs Manohar Lal Khattar, during his meeting with UT officers, had expressed concerns over low Metro ridership in a city like Chandigarh, which he said could impact the project’s viability.
Khattar emphasised that the success of Metro systems largely depended on ridership numbers. “Ridership in Chandigarh does not appear to meet the threshold required for a viable Metro system,” he said.
He also suggested exploring alternative transportation solutions, such as pod taxis, signalling the uncertain future of the Metro project.
Feasibility committee already formed by UT administrator
On November 1, UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria had formed an eight-member committee to evaluate the financial and economic feasibility of the system.
The committee, which will submit its report in two months, has been tasked with assessing the overall feasibility of a Metro project for the city, analysing relevant reports from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on other Metro projects.
The committee was constituted two months after the administrator — during the September 2 Unified Metro Transportation Authority (UMTA) meeting — had first instructed authorities to carefully examine the project’s viability in cities of comparable size.
This was followed by a contentious discussion at the UT Administrator’s Advisory Council (AAC) meeting on September 14, where former MP Kirron Kher had voiced her strong opposition to the project, while current MP Manish Tewari defended it as a crucial step towards tackling the city’s burgeoning traffic chaos.
