Chandigarh : For the ambitious Metro rail project, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has asked the UT Administration and...
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neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana to arrange 160-MW power supply to run the metro rail in the tricity.Out of this 160-MW power supply, the UT Administration has to arrange 80 MW of power. For the first corridor, which will be from Mullanpur to Sector 20, Panchkula, the DMRC has demanded 100-MW power supply and to supply so much of power, two sub-station need to be set up. Similarly, the DMRC has sought 60-MW power from Sector 1 to Sector 62, Mohali, and for this corridor as well two sub-stations will be set up.Sources added that out of the 160 MW, 80-MW power supply is required to run Metro and 80 MW required for back-up in case of any fault in supply lines and power failure. A senior official of the UT Administration said that the DMRC had demanded a sub-station in Sector 9 and Sector 51-52. Besides, one sub-station each will be set up in Mohali and Panchkula.But providing required power to the DMRC for running metro will be a difficult task for the UT Administration. At present, Chandigarh has no power generation capacity of its own and the city gets power supply from various central power generating stations in the region. While 280-MW power is supplied from different power stations in the region everyday, nearly 30-MW power is channelised through Jammu and Kashmir as per a bilateral agreement.The sources said that as the UT had no power generating station of its own, extra power supply would be sought from various central power generating stations in the region. Subsequently, the power supply would be routed through these four sub-stations to run the metro rail in the tricity.Recently, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) preparing detailed project report (DPR) for the tricity metro project had asked the administration to make arrangements for extra power supply to run the metro rail. The DMRC is likely to submit the DPR by the end of this month.

Chandigarh : A geo-technical survey has given green light to the city metro project. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC),...
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which had conducted a survey in its recently submitted report to the UT Administration, did not find any obstacle on the two underground corridors of the project.For the survey, the team had collected soil and rock samples from the two proposed underground corridors of a length of 37.69 km. A senior official of the UT Administration said the metro project would begin in 2013 and residents would be able to avail of the facility from 2018. Covering 37.69 km, the rail project will be built at a cost of Rs 8,388 crore.For the first corridor, samples were taken from the route of Mullanpur, Sarangpur, Khuda Lahora, PGI, Sectors 16, 9, 7 and 26, Timber Market in Sector 26, Chandigarh Railway Station, Housing Board Chowk, Mansa Devi Complex in Panchkula, HUDA office, City Centre, Panchkula bus stand, Sector 14 (Panchkula) and Grain Market of Sector 20 in Panchkula.For the second corridor, samples were taken from the Capitol Complex, Sectors 9, 17 and 22, Sectors 34, 43, 52, Sectors 62 and 70 of Mohali and Gurdwara Shahidan.The environment and social impact survey is yet to be started.Initially, six corridors were recommended by RITES, a government enterprise that offers consultancy and project management services in the transport infrastructure sector. But gradually, the DMRC proposed two routes for the project.The metro will be underground within the sectoral grid of Chandigarh. Outside the grid, it will be elevated. The metro stations will be constructed every 1 km where it is underground and 1.3 km where it is above the ground.

Chandigarh ; Terming the budget allocated for the UT Administration by the Union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, ‘not enough’, the...
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officials of the Chandigarh Administration have demanded Rs 160 crore more from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to meet their ever-rising expenses.To seek Rs 160 crore more, the UT Administration has submitted that they got less budget in categories like transport, urban planning, power and health. Besides, salaries of the Chandigarh Administration employees have also hiked. To meet all these expenses they have sought more money.For 2012-13, the UT Adminitration’s share was increased with Rs 185.81 crore in the total budget, under the plan and non-plan heads. In the total budget, the UT Administration had got Rs 2,91,601 crore against Rs 2,73,020 crore for 2011-12.Against the allocation of Rs 6,61,89 crore for 2011-12, the Union government had allotted Rs 7,37,23 crore plan budget for Chandigarh for 2012-13. Under the non-plan head, Chandigarh had got Rs 2,17,878 crore (current year’s allocation was Rs 2068.31 crore).A senior official of the UT Administration said they had received only Rs 64.70 crore for the metro project and transport which was not enough.Under the transport head, the UT Administration has to improve the bus services and replacement of 208 buses, multi-level parking at the ISBT, Sector 43, and creation of four new bus stands near the PGI, Mani Majra, Dadu Majra and Sector 31.He added that the money was also required for land acquisition. In many cases of land acquisition, the award in land acquisition had been increased by various courts. So the administration had to give them more amount than decided at the time of declaring the original award.He added that the Chandigarh Transport Authority (CTU) was given only Rs 37 crore as against the requirement of Rs 47 crore, which was also not going to meet its future diesel requirement. “As far as the police department vehicles are concerned, more money is needed for petrol and diesel,” he said. Sources added that the UT Administration had not got enough money under the power and energy head. A senior official said the Administration had told the ministry that Chandigarh did not have its own electricity generation plants. “It is totally dependent on others to meet the power requirement for which extra money is required in future,” they stated.

CHANDIGARH: Metro Rail project is running behind the schedule and has worried UT administration for the cost of the project...
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could be increased. The project was supposed to be started on ground by 2012.    The work would start off only after the detailed project for the Metro will be submitted by RITES, the consultancy arm of Indian Railways. The report will contain financial model and the actual alignment of two routes planned in the first phase.    UT architecture department is re-planning the mass rapid transit system by adding trams and other cheaper modes of transport and other minor details concerning the project. The underground section of the tube will cost around Rs 350 crore per km and elevated section will need Rs 140 crore per km and two corridors (North-South and East-West) have been planned in the first phase.   To protect the skyline, most of the constructions will be done underground. UT Administration has proposed Rs 10 crore in the next financial year for introduction of MTRS in the city and a special operation (SPV) to manage the finances of the project will be formed.

CHANDIGARH: Metro Rail project, which was mooted with the target of beginning work on the ground by 2012, is running...
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behind schedule and it has become a cause of concern for UT administration, which fears massive escalation in the project cost.
"Work would kick off only after the detailed project report for Metro is submitted by RITES, the consultancy arm of Indian Railways. It is expected to be submitted in three months. The report will come up with a financial model and the actual alignment of the two routes planned in the first phase," said a UT official. But with UT architecture department now reworking the mass rapid transit system by adding trams and other cheaper modes of transport, some more time will go into working out nitty-gritty of the system.
The underground section of the tube will cost Rs 350 crore per km and elevated section will need Rs 140 crore per km. Two corridors (North-South and East-West) have been planned in the first phase and most of construction within Chandigarh will be underground to protect the skyline.
The administration has proposed to set aside Rs 10 crore in the next financial year for introduction of MRTS in the city. A Special Operation Vehicle (SPV) will be formed to manage the finances of the project which will require Rs 6,000 for construction of infrastructure alone.

Chandigarh : In a major development, the UT Administration has decided to ply light rail transport in the city and...
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periphery. The proposed trams will run parallel to the ambitious Metro project across the tricity and act as major feeder to it. Giving details, UT Finance Secretary VK Singh said about Rs 10 crore had been set aside for studying the tram project in the next annual budget of the Administration. “The project is a step towards upgrading public transport,” he said. He added that there would be two Metro lines, against the four proposed by the Rail India Technical and Economic Services. “There is need to connect certain important parts of the city with peripheral towns like Zirakpur and Kharar, on which tram lines will be laid,” he said. The proposed trams would not disturb Metro lines, but act as feeder at certain points, he said. The possible routes were Zirakpur-ISBTs-Kharar and PGI-southern sectors-IT Park. A detailed project report would be prepared shortly, he said, adding that there would be high-speed trams with air-conditioned coaches and modern facilities. The main purpose behind the project was to shift residents of the city from their private vehicles to public transport. About 40 per cent of the population used private transport in developed cities, but the figure here was about 80 per cent.

CHANDIGARH: UT administration put up a demand for nearly Rs 800 crore for the planned budget in financial year 2012-13,...
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before the Centre in a meeting held in Delhi, on Thursday. The budget projection is 17% more than the annual budget of Rs 661.89 crore allocated. Apart from increased budget for health and education, UT has sought additional amount for the metro project under the plan budget. For financial year 2011-12, the Centre had allocated an amount of Rs 661.89 crore to the city under planned budget. Chandigarh had received Rs 1646.53 crore under non-plan budget for fiscal year 2011-12. Sources said the planned budget heads includes health, education and infrastructure. The preservation of Sukhna Lake and defining the heritage of the city, particularly cultural and existing buildings, find a special mention. Developmental projects for the newly developed sectors of the city have been separately specified in the budget. In the 2011-12 budget presented by Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on February 28 last year, there was a hike of Rs 259.21 crore (43%) in the total budget, both under planned and the non-planned heads.

Government of Chandigarh in India is planning to start construction of a new Metro rail project from February 2013 which...
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will cost about Rs.83.88bn ($1.7bn), according to Railway Technology. According to a presentation by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the metro line will span 37.69km, with expected completion by 2018. The cost of the project does not include the land acquisition cost, and the project will be shared by the state of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. DMRC joint general manager R C Sharma told the Press Trust of India that different activities such as topographic surveys, geotechnical investigations, traffic forecasts and planning of horizontal and vertical alignment have been done and a social impact assessment will start soon. Chandigarh Metro rail project will have 12 new underground and 18 elevated stations, with one metro station every kilometre where the metro is underground and every 1.3km where it is above ground.

The Metro would start running in the city by 2018. This is what RC Sharma, Joint General Manager, Delhi Metro...
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Rail Corporation (DMRC), asserted in his presentation on the Chandigarh Metro Project at the Administrator’s Advisory Council meeting at UT Guest House here today. “Different activities such as topographic survey, geotechnical investigation, traffic forecast, planning of horizontal and vertical alignment have been done and social impact assessment will start soon. If we manage to begin work by the next year, we would complete the first phase in just five years, i.e. by 2018,” said Sharma. The 37.69-km Metro rail project costing Rs 8,388 crore is on the verge of kicking off here, he added. As many as 12 underground and 18 elevated Metro stations would be constructed. While giving the presentation on the upcoming Master Plan, UT Chief Architect Sumit Kaur said an expert committee had been constituted for the preparation of the Master Plan of Chandigarh and an overall analysis had been done for the purpose. The Heritage Committee has recommended to protect the heritage buildings of the city by sticking to the original concept of Le Corbusier’s plan. “A study has been done in order to understand the problem and making new proposals for housing, social infrastructure, commercial and industrial areas of the city. Street vendors would be accommodated by constructing street vending zones in the near future,” she said. According to the plan, a ring road would be constructed around Chandigarh on the pattern of NCR, Delhi, to ease traffic in the city. Besides, the existing pedestrian and cycle tracks would be reconstructed for the convenience of the city residents. In a bid to upgrade the education system here, the Administrator, Shivraj Patil, directed the officials concerned to introduce smart classrooms and other hi-tech electronic gadgets in schools apart from introducing distant education system. Sanjay Tandon, president of the local BJP unit and member of the council, stressed strengthening the system. “We lack decision-making which resulted in many vital issues such as review of charges for premises misuse, garbage plant, sanitation and the problems faced by the industrialists due to ‘outdated’ rules getting pending,” said Tandon.

CHANDIGARH: The UT administration on Thursday said work on Metro project would begin from 2013 and Tricity residents would be...
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able to avail the facility from 2018. Covering 37.69 kms, the metro rail project will be built at a cost of Rs 8,388 crore. Two corridors will be constructed in the first phase and the intersection station will be in Sector 9. A presentation on the routes was given by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation ( DMRC) to the advisory council with exact location of the stations on Thursday. As per the plan, one corridor will be from Mullanpur to Grain Market, Sector 20 in Panchkula, and the other from Capitol Complex to Gurdwara Shahidan in Mohali. For the first corridor, stations will come up at Mullanpur, Sarangpur, Khuda Lahora, PGI, sectors 16, 9, 7, 26, Timber Market in Sector 26, Chandigarh Railway Station, Housing Board Chowk, Mansa Devi Complex in Panchkula, HUDA office, City Centre, Panchkula bus stand, Sector 14 of Panchkula and Grain Market of Sector 20 in Panchkula. For the second corridor, stations will come up at Capitol Complex, sectors 9, 17, 22 near Aroma lightpoint, 34, 43, 52, 62 of Mohali, 70 of Mohali and Gurdwara Shahidan, as per the initial plan. Various works for the project such as topographic survey, geotechnical investigation, traffic forecast, planning of horizontal and vertical alignment have been done. Work on social impact assessment will start soon.

Chandigarh : Metro rail project at a cost of Rs 8,338 crore will be initiated soon in Chandigarh, Joint General...
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Manager, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, R C Sharma today said. Sharma said the total length of the metro rail project here would be 37.69 km. "In this regard, different activities such as topographic survey, geotechnical investigation, traffic forecast, planning of horizontal and vertical alignment has been done and social impact assessment will start soon," he said while making a presentation on Chandigarh Metro Project here. He said 12 underground and 18 elevated stations will be constructed.

The construction of the Metro Rail project is likely to start by February 2013 and be completed before the end...
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of the next Five-Year Plan. A presentation on the Metro Rail project was made during a meeting of the UT Administrator’s Advisory Council today. A representative from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation made the presentation before the members. The project would cost more than Rs 8,388 crore, apart from the cost of the land that would be required for it. The cost would be shared between Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. The total length of the Metro corridors would be 37.69 km. The North-South corridor would be 14 km and the East-West corridor 21 km. There would be a station every 1.2 km. Activities such as Topographic Survey, Geotechnical Investigation, Traffic Forecast, Planning of Horizontal and Vertical Alignment have been done and the Social Impact Assessment will soon be started. The members were informed that 12 underground and 18 elevated Metro Stations would be constructed under the project.

Chandigarh : In an important development, the UT Administration has included the Metro project in the proposed budget of its...
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Five-Year Plan.Earlier, the pilot project, which was envisaged more than 15 years ago, was not included in the UT’s proposed budget of about 4,000 crore for the next five years.Confirming the development, UT Finance Secretary VK Singh said now the Metro would be one of the top priorities in the UT’s proposed budget under 12th Five-Year Plan. The development took place following UT Administrator Shivraj Patil’s directions in yesterday’s meeting, in which he asked officials why the project was not included in the proposed budget.“We are making the correction as per given directions. Now the Metro will be on top of the list of our budget,” he said.Asked whether there would be an increase in the proposed budget, the Finance Secretary said they were trying to accommodate project funds without increasing the budget amount.“We have to make some sacrifices in other areas. We are working out modalities and seeing the options,” he said.He added that the detailed project report on the Metro would be prepared within three months. Its inclusion in the UT’s Five-Year Plan would speed up project work here, he stated.Apart from the Metro, Patil also asked officials to work out on constructing girls’ hostels in the city. So far, the city had only one girls’ hostel, which was being run by the UT Administration. VK Singh added that the draft on the proposed budget after corrections would be readied within a week. The top priorities in the UT draft were health, education and infrastructure.

Chandigarh : In an important development, the UT Administration has included the Metro project in the proposed budget of its...
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Five-Year Plan.
Earlier, the pilot project, which was envisaged more than 15 years ago, was not included in the UT’s proposed budget of about 4,000 crore for the next five years.Confirming the development, UT Finance Secretary VK Singh said now the Metro would be one of the top priorities in the UT’s proposed budget under 12th Five-Year Plan. The development took place following UT Administrator Shivraj Patil’s directions in yesterday’s meeting, in which he asked officials why the project was not included in the proposed budget.“We are making the correction as per given directions. Now the Metro will be on top of the list of our budget,” he said.Asked whether there would be an increase in the proposed budget, the Finance Secretary said they were trying to accommodate project funds without increasing the budget amount.“We have to make some sacrifices in other areas. We are working out modalities and seeing the options,” he said.He added that the detailed project report on the Metro would be prepared within three months. Its inclusion in the UT’s Five-Year Plan would speed up project work here, he stated.Apart from the Metro, Patil also asked officials to work out on constructing girls’ hostels in the city. So far, the city had only one girls’ hostel, which was being run by the UT Administration. VK Singh added that the draft on the proposed budget after corrections would be readied within a week. The top priorities in the UT draft were health, education and infrastructure.

Chandigarh :Preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Metro Rail has missed its December deadline. The DPR will...
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take a few more months with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which has been entrusted with the task of preparing the DPR, seeking details of the underground utilities and construction in the city. It was in May, last year, that the process for making the DPR was initiated and was expected to be ready by December.Underground utilities will include a number of services including sewerage and water lines. The data for the same is present with the public health departments of the Municipal Corporation (MC) and the Administration. In the civic body, two of the four divisions have prepared the data that has to be submitted. The other two are in the process of submission.An official said that CDs of the layout are available and are being verified. He said that the physical verification of the underground utilities is being done apart from studying the layout that is available. The details will be submitted in the coming days. Apart from the layout of the sewerage lines, underground water supply lines are also present.High tension wires and optical fiber cables have also been laid underground. Details of these are required to be submitted. System for storm water drainage as well as underground reservoirs for storing water are some other services.UT Finance Secretary V K Singh said” “The preparation of the DPR will take some time as the details of the underground utilities has to be provided. Concerned departments have been asked to submit the detail”.”The process of soil testing for the Tricity is being conducted. The samples are collected every 500 metres at varying depths. The samples are then sent to a laboratory in Jaipur for testing. The samples are also being collected from places where the terminal stations will be built.

Chandigarh : Preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Metro Rail has missed its December deadline. The DPR...
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will take a few more months with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which has been entrusted with the task of preparing the DPR, seeking details of the underground utilities and construction in the city. It was in May, last year, that the process for making the DPR was initiated and was expected to be ready by December.Underground utilities will include a number of services including sewerage and water lines. The data for the same is present with the public health departments of the Municipal Corporation (MC) and the Administration. In the civic body, two of the four divisions have prepared the data that has to be submitted. The other two are in the process of submission.An official said that CDs of the layout are available and are being verified. He said that the physical verification of the underground utilities is being done apart from studying the layout that is available. The details will be submitted in the coming days. Apart from the layout of the sewerage lines, underground water supply lines are also present.High tension wires and optical fiber cables have also been laid underground. Details of these are required to be submitted. System for storm water drainage as well as underground reservoirs for storing water are some other services.UT Finance Secretary V K Singh said” “The preparation of the DPR will take some time as the details of the underground utilities has to be provided. Concerned departments have been asked to submit the detail”.”The process of soil testing for the Tricity is being conducted. The samples are collected every 500 metres at varying depths. The samples are then sent to a laboratory in Jaipur for testing. The samples are also being collected from places where the terminal stations will be built.

CHANDIGARH: With a view to encourage city commuters to use more public transport, UT is all set to buy 86...
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red and green coloured buses. These buses that will be deployed on the local routes and would be replacing old buses, would ensure commuters a comfortable and prompt service. With the starting of these buses, it would also be ensured that waiting time is reduced.The new buses are being introduced to improve road transport in view of the upcoming metro rail project which would require a prompt and sustainable bus service providing connectivity to the metro stations.Talking to TOI, director of Chandigarh Transport Undertaking, Sunil Bhandari said, "We have prepared a proposal to buy 86 attractive red and green coloured buses which has been sent to the UT administrator. With the addition of these new buses, we would be phasing out our old buses and ensure a safe and enjoyable service to commuters."The earlier lot of colourful buses that were added to the city bus fleet, had led to the number of passengers going up considerably, as these had caught the fancy of people, especially the college-going crowd."Moreover, we have to strengthen road transport before the ambitious metro rail project takes off. We are shortly going to start a public campaign to propagate the use of public transport to decrease the volume of traffic on city roads," said a CTU official.

Chandigarh : To complete the long-awaited detailed project report (DPR) for the tricity’s ambitious Metro rail project, the Delhi Metro...
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Rail Corporation (DMRC) has started the topographical survey for the 33-km route. After completing the soil and rock testing, the corporation started the topographical survey recently.The topographical survey report will be part of the detailed project report (DPR). In the first phase, employees of the DMRC have started the topographical survey on the Chandigarh-Panchkula route.The survey is being carried out for the preparation of the detailed project report, which is pivotal in planning the Metro project. The report, which will also analyse the feasibility of the project, is likely to be completed by December.Initially, six corridors were recommended by RITES, a government enterprise that offers consultancy and project management services in the transport infrastructure sector. But gradually, the DMRC proposed two routes for the project.The first route will run from north to south of the city, starting from a site close to Capitol Complex, near Secretariat, the High Court and Rock Garden. It will reach the Sector-17 piazza through UT Secretariat on Jan Marg, Sectors 22 and 35, ISBT-43 and go to Mohali, where it will pass through Aerocity and City Centre to terminate at Sohana, after taking a turn near Sohana gurdwara.The other route, known as the East-West Corridor, will start from Sector 21, Panchkula, and lead to the railway station in Chandigarh, crossing the Sector-17 piazza, the PGI, Sarangpur, and reach Mullanpur.The Metro will be underground within the sectoral grid of Chandigarh. Outside the grid, it will be elevated. The Metro stations will be constructed every 1 km where it is underground and 1.3 km where it is above the ground.

Work on the the Detailed Project report for the proposed Chandigarh Metro Project seems to be finally gathering steam.
...
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Officials from DMRC, Punjab and Haryana would likely visit the city this week to review the site.The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which has been given the task of preparing the Detailed Project Report for the proposed Chandigarh Metro project, is all set to take the first step.According to senion UT officials, the DMRC officials are likely to visit on 5th May to do a recce of the city. The team will also inspect the proposed routes to Panchkula and Mohali. Officials from Delhi will have a meeting with UT authorities along with senior representatives from Punjab and Haryana to discuss various aspects about the project. Thereafter, the work on the Detailed Project Report will start for which UT Chandigarh will pay 50 % of the cost with the rest to be equally shared by Punjab and Haryana. The DPR will take around 6 months to complete and will analyze various aspects including the very feasibility and cost of the whole project. The cost of the metro will be shared between U.T. Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana as per the actual kilometers that will be laid in their respective areas.

The team from New Delhi, which is in Chandigarh to survey the city for the proposed metro rail project, has...
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sought accurate details of the layout of roads from authorities to plan the alignment of metro corridors.The team from New Delhi, which is in Chandigarh to survey the city for the proposed metro rail project, has sought accurate details of the layout of roads from authorities to plan the alignment of metro corridors. Here’s a report.
In a letter to the Chandigarh Finance Secretary, officials of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, who are in the city to survey two proposed routes, have communicated that most of the work has been completed. The topographical survey and 40 per cent of geo-technical investigations are done. These surveys are necessary for construction above or under the ground. Finance Secretary V.K. Singh said the team has completed soil and rock testing on the North-South route and work has now started on the East-west corridor.The DMRC team has also sought details of layout of the roads because elevated corridors normally run on the median of roads. The team is especially interested in the layout of ISBT-43, where one of the Metro stations has been proposed. Delhi officials faced some difficulty in accessing the road plan between PGI and Mullanpur. The survey is being done for the preparation of the Detailed Project Report pivotal in planning the mammoth project. The report, which will also analyse the feasibility of the project, is likely to be completed by December.Initially, 6 corridors were recommended by RITES, a government enterprise which offers consultancy and project management services in the transport infrastructure sector. But gradually, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation proposed two routes for the project. While the East-West Corridor of the Metro Rail will start from Sector 21, Panchkula and terminate at Mullanpur, the North-South corridor will run from around the Capitol Complex to go up to Aero city in Mohali.According to the tentative plan, the yard or the parking area for the metro on the East-West route will be built in Mullanpur. The North-South corridor has been conceptualised near the Aero city in Mohali.

CHANDIGARH: The long-awaited detailed project report (DPR) for Tricity's ambitious metro rail project is likely to be completed and submitted...
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with UT administration by December. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which was given the task of preparing the report, has completed soil and rock testing of the areas where the 33-km metro train route would be built.Scientists from DMRC will submit their findings to their seniors in the capital shortly. UT finance and engineering secretary, V K Singh, said the DPR would address questions of metro's feasibility and need in this area. "We have received information about it arriving shortly," stated Singh.The soil and rock testing for the project lasted three months. Information from testing would be submitted with DMRC and compiled in the DPR. "The report would also be handed to the governments of Punjab and Haryana, which are UT's partners in this big project," said a source in UT administration.A few days back, in his meeting with the Prime Minister and the senior officials of the National Planning Commission, UT administrator Shivraj Patil had stressed upon the need for speeding up the metro rail project. He had said, "Keeping in view the city's architecture, overbridges cannot be allowed here and there is an immediate requirement to have an underground transport system that would cater to growing transport needs of Tricity commuters."

The soil sampling for the North-South corridor of the metro in Tricity has been completed and the sampling for the...
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East-West corridor has started. The process is likely to be completed within a month’s time. Around 20 samples of soil have been sent for testing to Jaipur the results for which will be sent to Delhi Rail Metro Corporation (DMRC).A team from Consulting Engineers Group (CEG) is collecting soil samples along the corridor. The collection of samples from the North-South corridor from Sector 1 till Sohana has been completed. Soil sampling on the East-West corridor from Sector 21 in Panchkula till Mullanpur has been started. At present the collection of samples from Khuda Lahora and Sarangpur is being done.The samples are collected every 500 metre. Disturbed as well as undisturbed samples are collected. The soil samples are taken every few metres at the point where the machinery is installed. These samples are then sent to a laboratory for testing.A team from DMRC is in the city to inspect the route. It is proposed that the metro will be underground in the sectoral grid in Chandigarh. Outside the sectoral grid it is likely to be above ground. This is being done so that the basic character of the city is not hampered. Once the results of the soil samples are received and the route inspected, the feasibility of the proposal will become clear.DMRC is in the process of preparing the Detailed Project Report for the Tricity Metro. This will include feasibility, cost and final routes of the project.With vehicle traffic in Tricity increasing at a fast pace, a need was felt to provide public transport. While the city has around eight lakh registered vehicles, there is a floating population of more than one lakh everyday. This often leads to chaos on city roads.

The soil sampling for the North-South corridor of the metro in Tricity has been completed and the sampling for the...
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East-West corridor has started. The process is likely to be completed within a month’s time. Around 20 samples of soil have been sent for testing to Jaipur the results for which will be sent to Delhi Rail Metro Corporation (DMRC).A team from Consulting Engineers Group (CEG) is collecting soil samples along the corridor. The collection of samples from the North-South corridor from Sector 1 till Sohana has been completed. Soil sampling on the East-West corridor from Sector 21 in Panchkula till Mullanpur has been started. At present the collection of samples from Khuda Lahora and Sarangpur is being done.The samples are collected every 500 metre. Disturbed as well as undisturbed samples are collected. The soil samples are taken every few metres at the point where the machinery is installed. These samples are then sent to a laboratory for testing.A team from DMRC is in the city to inspect the route. It is proposed that the metro will be underground in the sectoral grid in Chandigarh. Outside the sectoral grid it is likely to be above ground. This is being done so that the basic character of the city is not hampered. Once the results of the soil samples are received and the route inspected, the feasibility of the proposal will become clear.DMRC is in the process of preparing the Detailed Project Report for the Tricity Metro. This will include feasibility, cost and final routes of the project.With vehicle traffic in Tricity increasing at a fast pace, a need was felt to provide public transport. While the city has around eight lakh registered vehicles, there is a floating population of more than one lakh everyday. This often leads to chaos on city roads.

CHANDIGARH: UT administration on Monday decided to begin work on implementation of Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP), which was prepared last...
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year by RITES, the consultancy arm of Indian Railways. The CMP shows the way for introduction of mass rapid transit system in the city and is seen as a solution to the growing traffic congestion. The MRTS was a condition laid down by the ministry of urban development for starting metro rail project in the city. The CMP for Chandigarh is multi-mode and Metro is only a part of it. Even if the Metro project does not start off as planned, UT can still go ahead with MRTS to manage growing vehicular traffic.

Chandigarh : Water encountered at depth of just 3.5 metres. The team conducting soil testing for the Metro Rail project,...
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have found the water table in the city to be quite high. At places, the team has encountered water at just 3.5 metres below the surface. The water along with soil samples are being sent for testing.With and underground metro being proposed in the sectoral grid in Chandigarh, it is likely to require de-watering of the soil. A team from Consulting Engineers Group (CEG) Test House is collecting soil samples along the routes proposed by Delhi Metro Rail Project (DMRC). This is the process to prepare a detailed project report for the Metro Raghu Raj Singh, site engineer, said that the testing is being done with the aim of knowing the nature of soil. “It is important to test the soil and water samples. This is required to decide the kind of material that will be used at the site for construction,” he said.The team is conducting survey along the North-South corridor from near the Capitol Complex to Sohana. A metro station is to be constructed at every kilometre where the Metro is underground and every 1.3 kilometre where Metro is above the ground. Once the sampling along the North-South corridor is complete, sampling will start on the East-West corridor from Sector 21 Panchkula to Mullanpur.CEG Test House had earlier conducted soil testing in Delhi when the Metro was constructed there. Similar testing is going on in Jaipur.

Chandigarh : The geo-technical investigation for the Chandigarh Metro is currently underway with a Chandigarh Metro Rail Corporation hiring a...
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Jaipur-based company collecting soil samples from various areas which fall on the proposed route.The work is being done with the help of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) which will soon be submitting a Detailed Project Report (DPR) on the project. The head of the DMRC, E Shreedharan, is also expected to visit the city soon to oversee the project.The work is being done by Jaipur-based Consulting Engineers Group(CEG) and the collection of soil samples started on September 18 from Sohana, Mohali. At present there are three machines which have taken samples from eight places.The machines drill the earth to a depth of 30m and soil samples are taken after every 1.5 meters. The sample collection at every site will end in two days. Soil samples are taken after every 500m. The company is collecting three types of soil samples; Undisturbed soil Sample(UDS), Disturbed Sample (DS) and Standard Penetration Test (SPT). These samples are further sent to Jaipur for measuring their bearing capacity and other tests to determine its strength are conducted on it. The design of the structure will be based on the outcome of the soil tests.Speaking to the Newsline, Rughuraj, Site Engineer, said, “In the first phase which is from Mohali to Secretariat, we will be taking samples of at least 85 to 90 spots. The samples on the Phase 2 which will be from Panchkula, Sector 21 to Mullanpur, will start soon after. The three machines used in the drilling have been brought from Delhi.”

Chandigarh : The East-West Corridor of the Metro Rail connecting Panchkula and Chandigarh will start from Sector 21, Panchkula and...
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terminate at Mullanpur. On the route the Metro rail will pass through Sectors 12, 12A, 11, 14, 15, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5. From Sector 7, the Metro will take a turn towards the Housing Board light point. The route was discussed at a meeting of the Coordination Committee for development of Chandigarh and its periphery.The comprehensive mobility plan that has been prepared specifies the route that the Metro would take in the Tricity. The Metro Rail would cover a 6.5-km route in Panchkula before entering Chandigarh. In Chandigarh the metro will pass through Railway Station, Sector 17 Plaza, PGI, Sarangpur and terminate at Mullanpur.Haryana Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary (Housing & Urban Development) S S Dhillon said that the comprehensive mobility plan for the Chandigarh Urban Complex had been prepared to establish better connectivity between Panchkula, Mohali and Chandigarh through Metro rail. “In the first phase, the Metro line would be extended to Panchkula, with the stretch of 6.5 kms and is scheduled to be implemented by 2014,” he informed.There would be two corridors of the Metro in Chandigarh. Another route - North-South corridor - will run from the north of the city to the south and start from a site close to the Capitol Complex near the Secretariat, High Court and Rock Garden. It will reach the Sector 17 Plaza through the UT Secretariat on Jan Marg, Sector 22, 35, ISBT 43 and will go up to Aerocity in Mohali. At Aerocity a terminal station is proposed to be built.The Metro would be underground in the sectoral grid in Chandigarh. Thereafter, it would be over the ground. This is being done with the aim of preserving the city’s character. At present the Detailed Project Report is being prepared by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).Punjab government officials have raised the demand that the Metro should pass through certain villages.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is preparing a DPR for the Chandigarh metro rail project. However, its chief E Sreedharan...
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has not changed his views about the financial viability of the ambitious plan to link the tricity through an underground metro rail network.Sharing his thoughts with The Tribune, he called the mega project “technically feasible but financially not viable, however, justified in view of the unique position of Chandigarh”, struggling with increasing vehicular pollution.Sreedharan says he had warned the government about financial impracticality, but the UT Administration is willing to go ahead. “It all depends upon the Government of India. We (DMRC) will prepare the report and give our recommendations within the next eight months,” the DMRC chief said, and hopefully before he call it a day this December.As far as choosing the right “mass rapid transport system” (MRTS) for Chandigarh is caoncerned, Sreedharan says while monorail was not a good idea keeping in mind its elevated structure, a tram system may have been a better choice for the UT. “However the city is keen to have a metro,” he added.The DMRC received a request from the Chandigarh Administration for preparing a DPR in May.

मेट्रो शहर की सड़कों से वाहनों का दबाव व प्रदूषण भी कम करेगी। यूटी प्रशासन ने यह तथ्य संसदीय...
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समिति के सामने पर्यावरण के मुद्दों पर बातचीत के दौरान रखा। संसदीय अध्ययन समिति का नेतृत्व कर रहे पी करुणाकरण व अन्य सदस्य सांसद राजेन गोहेन, परमजीत कौर गुलशन, डॉ. संजीव गणेश नाईक, राजाराम ने भी इस राय पर हामी भरी।बुधवार व वीरवार को हुई बैठकों के दौरान यूटी के वित्तीय अधिकार 10 करोड़ रुपये से बढ़कर 50 करोड़ करने, शहर के ग्रीन कवर को बढ़ाने, आबकारी व कराधान विभाग द्वारा एकत्रित राजस्व पर भी चर्चा की गई। वहीं आईटी पार्क व सीआइआइ द्वारा ई-वेस्ट योजना लागू करने को लेकर विचार-विमर्श किया गया।

CHANDIGARH: Even as a Planning Commission member took a 'discouraging' stand against the UT's intention of having the ambitious Metro...
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network, at a meeting between administration and central officials, senior bureaucrats here don't think of it as a serious matter. The member had asked why should there be need for this in a small city like Chandigarh.UT finance secretary Vijoy Kumar Singh stated that this was just a general observation on part of the member and these kept cropping up at administrative meetings.''These were just suggestions for developing the mass rapid transport system as there isn't much need of a massive Metro rail project in Chandigarh. We would definitely be going ahead with our Metro project and are waiting for the detailed project report (DPR) to initiate the work regarding it,'' insisted Singh.Sources in administration said Planning Commission had stated that central government did not want to be an equity partner in such projects, as they were not profitable ventures. ''The panel is in favour of the Centre giving grants for such projects without holding a stake, leaving the responsibility of implementing and managing the projects on the states,'' said the official.During the meeting, UT's adviser to the administrator, K K Sharma, had raised the issue of building bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors on Chandigarh's high-density road traffic points on the pattern of Delhi.Introduced in Delhi earlier, BRT corridors' move has not met with much success. Another UT official present in that Delhi meeting, said, ''The BRT corridor system cannot be successful in Chandigarh as the city has no overbridges like Delhi. The best thing here is to improve the public transport system by providing buses from one point to another and encouraging more commuters to board them.'' Earlier, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which is preparing the DPR, had also argued that Chandigarh did not need the Metro as the maximum distance here was not more than 9km.The DMRC also said that Metro projects in all cities with a population of over 10 lakh was not viable and the benchmark population to qualify for such project should be raised to 20 lakh.