If all goes well, the 103 km, six-corridor phase 4 of Delhi metro would be ready in another 6 years. This will be a big step bringing pollution and traffic chaos to unbelievably low. This project will be built at a cost of Rs 50,000 crore, deputy CM Manish Sisodia announced.
Phase-IV will be monitored closely, said Sisodia. "The project is scheduled to take six years to be completed. We have asked that DMRC give a monthly progress report to the Delhi government once the work on Phase-IV starts," he added.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the decision would "go a long way" in reducing congestion and pollution in the city . "A big decision by Cabinet today," he tweeted.
The project details will be sent to the urban development ministry for approval, after which the tendering process will start. Sources said that work on Phase-IV should start this year itself.
The six corridors approved for the next phase are Rithala-Bawana-Narela (21.73km), Inderlok-Indraprastha (12.58km), Aerocity-Tughlakabad (20.20km), Lajpat Nagar-Saket G-Block (7.96km), Janakpuri (west)RK Ashram (28.92km) and Mukundpur-Maujpur (12.54km).
The new phase will add around 8.5 lakh riders to the Delhi Metro network.While the longest corridor in this phase will be the Janakpuri (West)-RK Ashram corridor, the shortest one will be Lajpat Nagar-Saket G block.
The lines will be mostly elevated ones--66.92km elevated and 37.01underground.
Terming it a "future-oriented" project, which will take the Metro to places that are likely to see a spurt in traffic, Sisodia said.
"The Phase-IV route is focused on areas where traffic volume is expected to go up in the future. Once the construction begins after the central government's nod, DMRC will submit a monthly progress report to the Delhi cabinet," he added.
With the completion of 103km-long Phase IV , the total length of the Metro network will cross the 450-km mark. Its detailed project report (DPR) was cleared in June 2016.