Metro's midas touch to reach Narela by 2021

Before there were plans for Delhi Metro to enter Dwarka, the place was known as Pappankalan. Hardly anyone moved to live there. Property prices in Rohini, built in 1980s, only shot up after it became part of the Metro network.

Before there were plans for Delhi Metro to enter Dwarka, the place was known as Pappankalan. Hardly anyone moved to live there. Property prices in Rohini, built in 1980s, only shot up after it became part of the Metro network.

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It is the Midas touch of the Metro that, the DDA believes, will change the fortune of Narela too. The Narela sub-city, planned at the same time as Dwarka, offers almost all the latter offers. Almost everything, but the metro.

DDA's plans are not too far off the mark as Narela is a part of the master plan made for metro's expansion in Delhi. The plan, however, will take some time to materialise.

Metro's extension to Narela is expected to be taken up in the Phase IV, which should be completed by 2020-2021. Work on Metro's Phase III has already begun. "We are expecting the work in Phase III to be completed by 2016. Work on the Phase IV would begin only after that," said a senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation official who didn't wish to be named. "The metro line from Jahangirpuri would be extended to Bawana and then to Narela," he added.

"The plan, however, would only fructify after we get all the required approvals from authorities. There can be some changes or additions as it happened with other sections too," the official said.

DDA had invested 10% of the total cost of bringing metro to Dwarka. However, there are no such plans for Narela. Sources said that since Narela had always been on the metro map, unlike Dwarka, there is little chance that DDA would put in money to extend the Metro to the sub-city.