Nod for more land, hurdles cleared for Dehi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor

GHAZIABAD: Land hurdles for the ambitious Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project have been resolved, TOI has learnt.

At a recent meeting with UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow, the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) had raised the issue of requirement of 22,225 sqm land at three places along the RRTS route, saying that any further delay will have a bearing on the priority section from Sahibabad to Duhai for which March 2023 deadline has been set.

According to officials, the process for transferring the land parcels belonging to the state irrigation department and Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) have now been initiated.

“NCRTC requires 4,000 sqm land in Arthala for setting up its power station and an additional 12,200 sqm for dumping construction and development waste. The two land parcels belong to the irrigation department and at the meeting it gave its consent for handing over the same to NCRTC at a rate to be decided by senior officials,” the official said.

Similarly, in Guldhar, NCRTC requires 6,025 sqm land for setting up an RRTS station there, but the land earmarked has been leased out by UPSIDC to a private company. “UPSIDC officials said that the lease period lapsed in February and it will soon initiate proceedings for handing over the land to NCRTC,” said the official.

The UP government is according priority to RRTS project and meetings at regular intervals are being conducted to deal with the roadblocks and impediments surrounding the same. On work front, the 17km priority stretch between Sahibabad and Duhai is going on in full swing, and according to officials, nearly 40% of the civil work on this route is complete.

The super stricture on this stretch is now visible and so far, more than 375 piers have been erected. “While work on erecting piers is going on in full swing and so far 375 piers have been erected, we have simultaneously started work on viaduct,” said an official from NCRTC.