Covid-19: Delhi Metro will resume as soon as Centre gives nod, says DMRC

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that metro services in the national capital should resume on a trial basis as the overall Covid-19 situation was improving and hoped that the Centre would take a decision soon.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC’s) Executive Director Anuj Dayal on Sunday said that Delhi Metro will resume its operations whenever directed by the Centre. All necessary guidelines to combat the spread of Covid-19 will be implemented and efforts will be made to ensure safe travel for commuters, Dayal added.

Metro services in Delhi have been suspended since March 22 due to the coronavirus outbreak. (Bloomberg file photo)

His statements come after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that metro services in the national capital should resume on a trial basis as the overall Covid-19 situation was improving and hoped that the Centre would take a decision soon.

Delhi has so far logged 1,61,466 Covid-19 cases which includes 11,778 active cases, nearly 1,46,000 recoveries and 4,300 deaths. The state health department on Sunday said that more than 14 lakh tests have been conducted till now.

“I have requested the Centre that Delhi should be treated differently. Corona situation is improving in Delhi. If they do not want to run Metro trains in other cities, let it be so. But, in Delhi Metro train services should be started in a phased manner on a trial basis. We have raised this issue before the Centre many times, I hope the Centre will soon take a decision in this regard,” Kejriwal said.

Metro services in Delhi have been suspended since March 22 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Earlier, the DMRC in an order said that perks and allowances of Delhi Metro employees would be slashed by 50% from the month of August as the corporation had incurred a financial loss of Rs 1,500 crore after operations were shut.

(With inputs from ANI)