Municipal Minister Dr. P. Narayana said that the metro rail projects in both Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada will be completed in the next three years. He said that it took six months to prepare the feasibility report study and the construction of the metro rail has been taken up as per the permission of the Center.
Stating that tenders are being called for these two metro rail projects, he said that these projects are being taken up as per Centre’s changed policy. Under this, the state government will contribute 20 percent, the center will contribute 20 percent, and the rest will be provided with the permission of the center through a soft loan from international organizations with a tenor of 30 years at a low interest rate.
He deplored that the previous government had taken up the project and set aside the construction of the metro rail. He said that this project will be taken up as per the promise given by their government. He said that today there is a traffic problem that is visible all over the world and as a solution to it, the construction of metro trains has been taken up in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Nagpur and other places.
Dr Narayana said that mixed double permissions will be given for the construction of houses and that the situation is changing as the permits are given for parking at the bottom, commercial structures on the first floor and residential on the second floor.
He said that there will be structures to allow traffic vehicles to pass on the first flyover and the metro train on the second flyover without any traffic disruptions at the junctions, so that motorists can travel without any traffic disruptions.
The Minister said that Visakhapatnam Metro Rail Construction Work will be undertaken in two phases under the auspices of the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Development Corporation. In the first phase, a total of 46 km of metro line will be constructed with 42 stations and a total cost of Rs. 11,490 crore will be spent on the construction of the metro rail in three corridors.
The first phase of Vijayawada Metro is being constructed under the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) at an estimated cost of Rs. 10,118 crores and is 32.40 km long. The first corridor is 25.9 km from Pandit Nehru Bus Station to Gannavaram Airport and the second corridor is from Pandit Nehru Bus Station to Penamalur.
Representatives of AP Metro Rail Corporation MD Ramakrishna Reddy signed the MoU with a consultancy for the construction, supervision and technical assistance of Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada Metro trains in the presence of Minister Narayana. An MoU was signed with TIPSA for Vijayawada Metro designs, technology and supervision of works and with Shistra Consultancies for Visakhapatnam.
