The Delhi Metro Project
Compiled By Vinod Kumar Sangwan
The Delhi Metro project is currently the largest engineering exercise in the world.
When
E Sreedharan took over as the managing director of Delhi Metro Rail
Corporation in November 1997, two doubts were raised about the subway
rail venture: was it worth the effort? Equally important, would it finish
on time? After all, putting together a subway railway system in a crowded
metropolitan city isn’t easy. A large number of utilities like
water pipes, sewerage lines, telephone and electric cables need to be
relocated to facilitate the construction work; people have to be relocated….
In fact,
India’s first metro project in the eastern city of Kolkata took
more than 25 years to complete. In the case of Delhi, as many as 35
studies have been done on the transport problems of Delhi since 1950
– and a number have suggested the Metro Rail for a solution in
Delhi.
Train-sets of four coaches in rake have been put into service. They run at intervals of 8 to 10 minutes from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The frequency of service and times of operation will be increased as the commuter traffic builds up. The system is designed to operate at a frequency of 3 minutes.
With the completion of the first phase of the metro, the city of Delhi will experience a net benefit of 437.23 lacks rupees per day.
A
feasibility study for introduction of a Mass Rapid Transit System in
Delhi was completed in the year 1990 and it recommended a network aggregating
240 Kms to meet the projected traffic demand for the horizon year 2021.MORE
CRICKET QUIZ
The Chasm between Rhetoric and Reality
By G. Parthasarathy
| Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar was in New Delhi for the "Composite Dialogue Process" between India and Pakistan during the weekend commencing June 26. The last round of talks between the Foreign Secretaries, in 1998, had been anything but cordial. When India's then Foreign Secretary K. Raghunath referred to the growing terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) by the Pakistani jihadi group the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), his Pakistani counterpart Shamshad Ahmad claimed that he was not even aware of the existence of such an organization in his country. General Musharraf reacted predictably to western actions declaring Pakistani jihadi groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and the LeT as terrorist organizations. He pretended to act against these groups, but allowed them to function under new names. He, however, acted firmly against elements in groups like the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), who were involved in plots against him personally, or joined the Al Qaeda in its moves to unseat the royalty in Saudi Arabia. The LeT functions under its new name - Jamaat ud Dawa - in Pakistan. Its cadres now carry arms more discreetly than in the past. |
What makes the Lashkar different from other ISI backed terrorist groups operating in India? While other groups have confined their activities to wresting the Kashmir valley from India and occasionally pretending to be champions of Muslims in India, the LeT avers that its objective is the liberation of Muslims in India by the destabilization and unraveling of the Indian Union. Hence its determination to establish its presence all across India, from Kashmir to Kerala. The United States obviously wants General Musharraf to devote full attention to the operations against the Al Qaeda and not fritter away his energies on tensions with India. General Musharraf has little choice but to fall in line, in much the same manner as General Zia was all milk and honey and even proposed a "No War Pact" with India, when the US commenced its jihad against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Hence the sweet talk and soft approach of Mr. Khokhar.MORE |
Editor & Composer: Prashant Bhoot