Expressing confidence that the much-delayed Visakhapatnam Metro Rail Project will be launched very soon, Minister for Municipal Administration Dr P Narayana said that Visakhapatnam Metro Comprehensive Transport Plan (Metro Rail) is pending with the Central Government.
During the Question Hour in the AP Assembly, responding to the questions raised by MLAs, he said that after the coalition government came to power, they have put a proposal before the Center to hand over the project to the Railways Department so that the Central Government will bear 100% of the cost, like the Calcutta Metro Rail.
He said that in this regard, he personally went to Delhi and gave a letter to the Union Minister and CM Chandrababu Naidu also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Modi. He said that a Comprehensive Transport Plan (CMP) has been sent to the Central Government. He said that the project work will start as soon as permission is received from the Center.
He expressed anger that the previous government had sidelined the metro rail projects of Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada due to factionalism. He was angry that the DPR was neglected on the pretext of extending it to Bhogapuram Airport in Visakhapatnam.
He said that proposals have been made for the construction of the metro in four corridors in two phases, covering a total length of 76.90 KMs. In the first phase, 46.23 km will be constructed in three corridors. BJP Legislative Party Leader Vishnu Kumar Raju believes that it would be more useful if another six kilometers are increased in the first phase of the metro rail.
The Minister lamented that the YSRCP government cancelled the tenders given earlier in 2019. He criticized the then government for having no intention of doing metro. However, he made it clear that he would talk to the Center and take the metro project forward on the Calcutta model.