Ahmedabad: Metro's APMC-Shreyas stretch to start next year

West Ahmedabad will have to wait longer to board the Metro Rail. The Metro's APMC-Shreyas stretch, which is a part of the 18.87 km North-South corridor, was supposed to have been completed last month, but it is now expected to be finished only late next year.

Work on the 4.6 km stretch was being executed by IL&FS Engineering, but it came to a halt in October as the company failed to pay contractors owing to financial troubles of its parent company. The Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) revoked IL&FS Engineering's contract over slow progress of work in December, and awarded contract for the balance work to J Kumar Infra in January.

"The new contractor has started the remaining work on APMC-Shreyas stretch, but not at full swing. The quantum of unfinished work is quite large, and we expect it to be completed only by late 2020," said a senior official of Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC), requesting anonymity.

The official said that the new contractor had started work, but vendors, who have not received their money from IL&FS, are creating issues. Vendors are refusing to move their materials and equipment from Gyaspur depot until their payment is settled. "We are trying to resolve the issue to ensure work begins at full pace soon," he said.

The APMC-Shreyas stretch of Metro comprises the 4.6 km viaduct, and stations at APMC, Jivraj Park, Rajiv nagar, and Shreyas.

Work on the remainder of the North-South corridor from Shreyas to Motera, which will pass from Paldi, Usmanpura, Vadaj, and other areas, is also projected to be completed by next year.

"The plan is to operationalise the entire corridor from APMC to Motera simultaneously by late 2020," the GMRC official said.

On the other hand, the 21.16 km East-West corridor from Vastral Gam to Thaltej is expected to become fully operational by the end of 2021, the official said further. This corridor includes the 6.5 km underground stretch from Shahpur to Kankaria.

"The underground tunnel work has been completed in Kalupur, and it is going on in Shahpur. Work on other stretches is also going ahead simultaneously, which will allow us to begin operations on the remainder of the entire corridor by late 2021," he said.

It is noteworthy that Metro Rail became operational in the Vastral Gam to Apparel Park stretch of East-West corridor on March 6. The service saw ridership of over 38,100 in March, and 35,000 in April. Three stations on the stretch are operational so far, and Amraiwadi station is likely to be open from next week. Vastral and Rabari Colony stations are likely to open by July-end.

Phase-1 cost rises to Rs12,500 crore

The estimated cost of the first phase of Ahmedabad Metro Rail has gone up to Rs 12,500 crore, from Rs 10,773 crore earlier, an official said.

The increase in cost is mainly on account of change of the changed alignment, which increased length of North-South corridor by 1.5 km, said a senior GMRC official. "The original alignment was along Ashram Road, which was later changed to run along side the railway track, increasing length of the project by 1.5 km. We have paid Rs 500 crore to Railways for acquiring its land. Moreover, height and width of the stations has had to be increased to build entry and exit on both sides of the track," the official said. GMRC has spent Rs 5,000 crore on the project so far.