The fate of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) project from Dilshad Garden to New Bus Stand in Ghaziabad seems to be hanging in balance though AAP leader Manish Sisodia assured to expedite the project.
Top Ghaziabad Develo-pment Authority (GDA) sources revealed that the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh would not allow the AAP, which leaders are critical about SP leaders, to take the credit for Metro connectivity in the city.
The officials, who had been pitching for the DMRC project in Ghaziabad, now claimed that the link with Dilshad Garden Metro Station is useless as it only connects certain parts of Old Delhi. The Vaishali link would have been beneficial for the city but that could not be materialised, they added.
Earlier, SP leader prof Ram Gopal Yadav had claimed that the Congress Government was letting down the DMRC project in Ghaziabad due to political reasons. The Metro rail was unlikely to reach Ghaziabad in near future, Yadav had said.
Now even though the AAP leaders want to expedite the project, the SP leaders would not let it take the credit for the project, said an official.
The GDA in its board meeting had approved the project, extending Dilshad Garden-Rithala Metro link to the New Bus Stand in Ghaziabad. The 9.41 km-stretch is estimated to cost about `1,591 crore. The proposed elevated corridor would have seven stations —Shaheed Nagar, Raj Bagh, Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala and New Bus Stand. The Dilshad Garden-New Bus Stand link is expected to benefit around one lakh people daily, including those residing in nearby towns of Murad Nagar, Modi Nagar and Meerut that flock to the Capital for livelihood.
The previous Government in the State had, in April 2011, almost abandoned the nine-year-old plan of extending the Dilshad Garden line to New Bus Stand due to shortage of funds.