Delhi govt issues tender for geotech survey of Magenta Line extension

Delhi government has issued a tender for a geotechnical survey for the Magenta Line extension, improving central metro connectivity.

The Delhi government has issued a tender to conduct a geotechnical survey between the upcoming Common Central Secretariat and Indraprastha metro stations for the proposed extension of the Magenta Line from RK Ashram Marg to Indraprastha.

(Photo for representation)

Officials said construction on the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) project will begin once the study is complete. This survey precedes civil construction and will assess the soil profile and groundwater conditions along the high-security Lutyens’ Delhi zone before tunnel boring machines (TBM) can be deployed.

A tender for ₹54.84 lakh has been floated and will open on March 9. The survey must be completed within 120 days of awarding the tender, a copy of which HT has seen.

The 9.91km corridor – approved by the Centre in December and by the Delhi government last month – is set to improve connectivity across central Delhi, reduce interchange load at Rajiv Chowk metro station, and provide a direct metro spine beneath the Central Vista redevelopment zone.

“Geotechnical work is carried out first on all metro corridors before actual construction commences. This allows planners to assess where there are hard rocks or where the groundwater table is high,” a metro official explained.

The RK Ashram Marg to Indraprastha section will be an extension of the under construction Botanical Garden to RK Ashram Marg corridor of the Magenta Line and aims to provide metro connectivity to the Central Vista area, which is currently under redevelopment. While the segment between Botanical Garden and Krishna Park Extension is complete – a further extension from Krishna Park – till RK Ashram is currently under-construction, and is scheduled to be completed by end of this year.

The stations on the RK Ashram Marg to Indraprastha section will include RK Ashram Marg, Shivaji Stadium, Central Secretariat, Kartavya Bhawan, India Gate, War Memorial - High Court, Baroda House, Bharat Mandapam, and Indraprastha.

This extension will cost ₹9,570.4 crore, with the Delhi government contributing ₹2,337.24 crore, the state government had said.

HT reported on February 12 that after this new segment and the previously announced Inderlok to Indraprastha corridor (Green Line extension), the Magenta Line will be the longest corridor in the Delhi metro network. At a total length of around 88.4km, the line will have 21 interchange stations.

The corridor will eventually run from Botanical Garden to Inderlok via Central Vista and function entirely as a driverless metro line, officials had said.