By IANS,
New Delhi : A programme to commemorate 10 years of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), scheduled for Monday, was cancelled after the national capital was rocked by protests over the gangrape of a 23-year-old, Metro officials said.
Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit were to attend the function.
An official from DMRC however said “in view of the sensitive nature of the current developments in the city, the formal function to commemorate the completion of 10 years of Metro operations has been postponed till further notice”.
Public activities, such as exhibitions, quiz contests, sale of commemorative smart cards etc, however “will go on as scheduled during the Metro Operations Week from 24th to the 31st of December, 2012”.
Eight Delhi metro stations remained shut Sunday to stop people from reaching India Gate, which has become a cauldron of protests against the horrific rape incident, demanding justice.
Meanwhile, the DMRC will be inducting its first eight coach train on its 10th anniversary.
This eight coach train will be introduced on the Jahangirpuri-HUDA City Centre corridor (Yellow Line) at around 11.30 a.m. This train will be the first of a total of 68 such trains which will be introduced on the Yellow and Blue lines (Dwarka Sec-21 to Noida City Centre/Vaishali) in a phased manner.
The Delhi Metro normally makes over 2,700 trips a day, covering about 70,000 km and carrying around 1.8 million passengers on week days.