Delhi Metro is going to build India’s greenest metro corridor. This is how they plan to do it

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is going to give citizens of Delhi-NCR greenest metro line, which will also be the greenest in entire India. The DMRC is going to build 29.7 km Noida Metro line on solar power within a year. Not only the metro line, solar power will be used to run all 21 stations along with its workplaces and train depot.

Noida Metro will emerge as the most environment friendly Metro project in light of the fact that the entire system will be running on solar power.

Santosh Yadav, the managing director of Noida Metro, said the target for Noida Metro will be generating an amount of 12MW of solar power everyday. In order to do so, solar panels on the rooftops of all stations, footbridges, its main office building, the depot and parking lot boundary walls will be installed.

"We will also apply for a diamond rating for our buildings by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). Metro's total power consumption can be reduced further with better engineering practices, sleek design, recycle and reuse,” Yadav told ET.

Supplementary power connection will only be used as backup or when there will be a glitch. The corridor’s power consumption estimated by officials is less than 12 MW. . If there is a surplus, Metro will route it to the conventional power grid and claim a rebate on its power usage, cutting operational costs.

"Each of the stations will be powered by its own green energy. Rooftops of stations will have solar panels and the buildings will fitted with LED bulbs. The two sub-stations that will supply power for trains running on the corridor will also support solar panels,” Yadav told ET.

DMRC is building the corridor and is also recycling construction waste. "Wasted concrete is being used to make kerbstones and tiles, which will be used at stations. We are also using wasted iron for grilles and railings of stations. We are using fly ash in construction, preserving top soil. The water used in our train depot shall be 100% recycled. It will be a zero-discharge facility,” Yadav told ET.

Noida Metro Railway Corporation’s headquarters in Sector 29 is going to be the first building in the NCR to fully generate its own solar power. "We will generate about 30 kW electricity for the building,” Yadav said.
(image: IndiaTimes)