By IANS,
New Delhi : Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) managing director E. Sreedharan Sunday said the proposal for phase-III of construction was awaiting approval from the state government.
Sreedharan, who was speaking at the DMRC’s 15th Foundation Day event held at Kamani Auditorium here, said the DMRC was “on track” for completing phase-II construction by October 2010 and had already submitted a blueprint to the Delhi government for the phase-III, covering 120 km.
“DMRC hopes to get clearances from the government soon so that phase-III can be started before phase-II is completed. This would help the organization utilize its present resources such as employees and contractors.”
According to a DMRC official, the third phase of construction, would connect the existing stations via a ‘ring road’ like framework.
Meanwhile construction on other stretches is also nearing completion. The Indraprastha to Yamuna Bank section will open May 10.
Other links like Yamuna Bank to Noida is slated to open in August, while Inderlok to Mundka and Yamuna Bank to Anand Vihar will be ready by September and December 2009 respectively.
Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna said he was impressed with DMRC’s high performance and record of finishing targets before time and within cost budgets.
“DMRC would do a greater service to the nation if it created a consultancy wing for assessing organizational competence of bodies in other sectors and providing guidance on how they could become 24-carat gold organizations,” Khanna said.
Emphasising the need for such a wing, Khanna added that he would “invite consultants to take an independent view” on the Delhi Development Authority, Delhi Police and municipal corporations – which he felt were certainly not 24-carot gold organisations.
At the function, the Barakhamba Road Metro station was declared the Best Metro Station of the existing 66 stations. Situated in the commercial hub of the city, the station sees about 20,000 passengers daily.
Rajiv Chowk Metro station’s group station manager Rajesh Kumar was awarded the Metro Man of the Year (2008-09) award. Twenty-one other DMRC employees were honoured for outstanding performance in their respective areas of work.