Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Monday, inaugurated the construction of Agra metro rail tunnel at a ground-breaking ceremony held at Ramlila Maidan in front of Agra Fort, formally kicking off the tunnel construction.
The tunnel boring machine (TBM) in Agra has been named after Ganga and Yamuna. This tunnel boring machine will prepare up to 10-12 metres of tunnel every day. Two parallel tunnels are to be constructed for the up and down tracks in the underground part of the Agra metro by the Uttar Pradesh Metro Corporation.
In his brief speech, the chief minister said that the metro rail and the upcoming G-20 event would promote Agra globally as an important investment and tourist destination.
“G-20 is a group of the most prestigious countries of the world. India has got the honour of presiding over the forum under the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi,” he said.
Four cities of Uttar Pradesh have been selected for holding the G-20 summits of which three meetings will be held in Agra. The first summit will be held on February 10, 11, 12 and 13 while two summits will be held in the month of August, 2023. A total of 11 G-20 meetings will be held in Varanasi, Lucknow, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Agra.
Expressing his satisfaction over the ongoing preparations for the G-20 in Agra, Chief Minister Yogi said: “With the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and One Earth, One Family and One Future, we will present India’s rich legacy of treating guests as ‘Gods’ (Atithi devo bhava) while welcoming the delegates.
“I am glad that the local administration, public representatives and public have joined hands to make the much anticipated event successful in terms of boosting tourism and opening up new avenues of investment in Agra,” Yogi said.
The chief minister said that work on the six-kilometre-long priority corridor, having three kilometre each elevated and underground tunnels being built as part of Agra metro was going on in full swing and it was expected to be completed six months ahead of the schedule.
According to the chief minister, the deadline set for completion of the priority corridor was August 2024, but the authorities were moving ahead with full commitment to complete the work six months ahead of time, while following the TTZ’s guidelines and complying with all environmental standards.
Yogi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took part in the bhoomi pujan ceremony of Agra metro in December 2020.
The construction work of two underground tunnels for Ganga and Yamuna started on Monday with the help of a tunnel boring machine called Ganga-Yamuna.
Chief Minister Yogi said: “I am happy that all standards regarding environment and safety are being taken care of in the construction. In Uttar Pradesh we are already running metro services in Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Kanpur. For the development of public transport as well as tourism facilities and better employment generation in Agra, the honorable people’s representatives have been demanding this state-of-the-art means of public transport for a long time. It is our effort that by December 2023, we will complete the work of the priority corridor which is about 6 km long. Meanwhile, two corridors with a length of 29.4 km have already been approved to be developed here.
Expressing his gratitude to the prime minister and the Government of India for their contribution towards the construction of Agra metro rail and congratulating officials of the Uttar Pradesh Metro Corporation and Agra metro for their dedicated hard work, Yogi said that the project was progressing rapidly and would be completed on time. According to him, Agra metro will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. The chief minister also thanked the people’s representatives and the people for their cooperation.
A total of seven underground stations and underground tunnels will be built by the tunnel boring machine Ganga and Yamuna. Agra metro is to have a network of 29.4 km-long two corridors, which will have 27 stations. The construction work of the 14 km-long first corridor between Taj East Gate and Sikandra is progressing at a fast pace. As many as 13 stations will be constructed in this corridor, including six elevated and seven underground stations.