Delegates from Asian Development Bank visits Delhi-Meerut RRTS project

New Delhi (Urban Transport News): To see the progress of ongoing Delhi-Meerut RRTS project, a team from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) led by President, Takehiko Nakao on Thursday visited the corporate office of National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) in New Delhi.

NCRTC Managing Director Vinay Kumar Singh has briefed ADB delegates about Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project being implemented in National Capital Region (NCR) by the company.

NCRTC team has made a detailed presentation to President included details of India's first RRTS project Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor and various steps taken for early implementation, risk mitigation measures and green practices.

Nakao was also briefed about how NCRTC is leveraging technology for the execution of the project. ADB President experienced the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) using Virtual Reality (VR) technology. Nakao appreciated the use of the latest technology in implementing the project and coordination between centre and state governments.

Virtual Reality (VR) is immersive visualization techniques which is helping NCRTC and its construction partners to have a better understanding of the project and helps in early identification and rectification of issues which may have been missed while designing the project on paper.

Nakao was also informed about the progress of ongoing civil construction work. The NCRTC team informed him that they are also taking steps to develop eco-system while implementing the project. Nakao said that the project should be environment-friendly instead of generating pollution in the city.

Basically, the main purpose of the visit to RRTS project was checking the ground reality of the project before releasing the fund by the bank. The project was earlier in news due to funding issue between Centre and Delhi government. After the interference of the Supreme Court of India, the Delhi government agreed to contribute its share on the RRTS projects connecting various regional cities with the Delhi.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) agrees to fund Rs.30,000 crores Delhi-Meerut RRTS project as long term ODA loan. It is expected that the 82-km long stretch between Delhi-Meerut will be operational by 2025.