Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flagged off the much awaited trial run of Kanpur Metro from the depot at Polytechnic on Wednesday.

Addressing the gathering at the launch of the trial run of Kanpur Metro from IIT-Kanpur to Motijheel, the chief minister said after completing the trial run process, the commercial operation of the Metro would be started very soon and the Metro would be dedicated to the people by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2021.

He directed the officials concerned to ensure that the commercial operation of Kanpur Metro started between December 15 and 20 this year.

The chief minister said that the Uttar Pradesh government always believed in picking up the gauntlet and this was substantiated by the fact that despite the scare of the COVID-19 pandemic, the work on Kanpur Metro continued with a missionary zeal to fulfill the promise made to Kanpurites to provide them the best transport facility in the form of a Metro rail.

"‘We do what we say’ stands proved with the first trial run of the Kanpur Metro and it is a clear indication that UP has decided to take the bull by the horns to revive the pristine glory of Kanpur and now this city will be known as Metro City,” he added.

The chief minister said today UP stood singular in claiming that it had five Metros which were giving further momentum to the economic progress of the state as well as the country.

He said that the Kanpurites would soon have access to the best transport facility. He said the Metro facility should have been made available to Kanpur long back but due to the negativity and corruption it got much delayed.

He said the Bharatiya Janata Party government had achieved something which the successive non-BJP governments could not do. He assured the people of Kanpur that very soon they would be gifted with the Defence Industrial Corridor as well.

Later, talking to press persons, Yogi Adityanath said the UP government was moving cautiously and once the clearance for Metro was granted as per norms, it would be gifted to the people of the city as a comfortable means of travel which would not only solve the problem of traffic snarls but also reduce pollution in the city to a great extent. He said the UP government was sensitive to the problems of the people of Kanpur and thus it was committed to make this city a Smart City as well.

Later, the chief minister reached Kanpur Development Authority where he took feedback of the Control Room set up there for Zika virus control. He emphasised upon the need to keep the city clean with regular fogging.

Yogi Adityanath said Zika virus had once again posed a major health threat, especially to Kanpur Nagar, which was an industrial city of the state.

He then cross-checked the details provided by District Magistrate Vishak G Iyer, and also interacted with the top officials of KDA and health department. He questioned them if they had been able to identify the source of the spread of Zika virus and said all possible efforts need to be made to ensure that the virus was successfully contained.

He then met the relatives of the Zika patients and took feedback on home isolation well. He also cross-checked the visits of the health teams in the surrounding areas.

The chief minister told the authorities that awareness, utmost care and alertness did not mean to create a panic among the people but they should understand that the government was making every possible effort to drastically reduce the toll and the further spread of the virus. He said it was heartening to note that out of the total 105 Zika cases identified, 17 were now negative. He said the UP government was maintaining a vigil and if the need arose it would rush its special medical team.

Those present on the occasion included UP’s Industrial Development Minister Satish Mahana, Minister of State for Higher Education Neelima Katiyar, Mayor Pramila Pandey, MPs SD Pachauri, Devendra Singh Bholey, Ashok Rawat, MLAs Surendra Maithani, Mahesh Trivedi, US Paswan, Abhijit Singh Sanga, Bhagwati Prasad Sagar, MLC Arun Pathak and dozens of officials of various departments and district administration.