RITES appointed to prepare DPR for Jammu and Srinagar Light Metro

Jammu (Urban Transport News): J&K Economic Reconstruction Agency (JKERA) and Railway consultancy firm RITES Limited have signed a memorandum of undertaking (MoU) to prepare a comprehensive mobility plan and detailed project report (DPR) for proposed Jammu and Srinagar Light Metro Rail project on Monday. The MoU was signed between Ms.

Avny Lavasa, IAS & Chief Executive Officer of J&K Economic Reconstruction Agency on behalf of the Government of Jammu & Kashmir and Piyush Kansal, Executive Director of RITES Limited. Under the MoU, RITES Limited will be responsible for the preparation and updation of the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP), Alternative Analysis Report (AAR) and Detailed Project Report (DPR) as per new Metro Rail Policy 2017 and Metrolite Policy 2019 in cities of Jammu and Srinagar.

The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has decided to engage RITES Ltd to provide consultancy services for preparation CMP, AAR, and DPR. The updated CMP and AAR, in light of the new metro Policy 2017 is a prerequisite for approval of the final DPR of Metro Rail Project by the Central Government. During a media interaction in July 2019, Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, said that the first priority is getting the approval of the metro rail project from the Central Government.

Options are open for multilateral funding agencies to be part of the project, apart from central assistance. The central government is pushing for such mass rapid transport corridors as part of futuristic vision so funds would not be a problem. Kumar Rajiv Ranjan, Managing Director of Mass Rapid Transport Corporation Jammu and Srinagar; Sanjay Gupta, Director Land Management, Jammu Development Authority (JDA); Bachan Lal Bhagat, Director ERA Jammu; Anil Raina, Senior Town Planner, Jammu; PP Arora, TO to CEO ERA; Lokesh Gupta, Incharge Deputy Project Manager, ERA; Raman Sharma, Senior Architect, JDA; Tarun Jain, Deputy General Manager RITES Ltd and other officials were also present during the signing of the agreement. Jammu and Srinagar Light Metro Rail project are one of the dream projects of the Narendra Modi-led Central Government.