The Delhi Metro will begin work on Phase-III in the next two months with the construction of Central Secretariat-Mandi House link. The stretch has been planned to decongest the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station that has a footfall of over four lakh everyday.
The contract for the 3.2-km link has been awarded to Pratibha-CSRG JV and the work on it is expected to begin in the next two months. The total cost of the 3.2-km corridor is `800 crores.
Tenders for this stretch were floated even before the Phase-III was cleared by the urban development minister.
“The Central Secretariat-Mandi House stretch will be the first to start in Phase-III. The contract has been awarded and the work will start in another 1-2 months,” Delhi Metro chief E. Sreedharan said while talking to reporters on Tuesday.
The 3.2-km underground stretch with two stations — Janpath and Mandi House — is likely to be completed in two years.
The new stations will reduce pressure on the Rajiv Chowk station.
The small stretch is part of the Central Secretariat-Red Fort Standard gauge line and the Delhi Metro wants it to be completed till Mandi House first by 2014.
The Central Secretariat-Mandi House line will be integrated with the Central Secretariat-Badarpur corridor, thus providing another link between east and south Delhi. It will ultimately be integrated with the Badarpur-Faridabad corridor when it is completed.
A new station will be built at Mandi House near the existing one. The Delhi Metro also decided to set up up a station in Janpath to further decongest Rajiv Chowk station. The station will be located somewhere near Eastern and Western courts. The train will leave from Central Secretariat, travel through Raisina Road, Janpath and Tolstoy Marg and terminate at Mandi House.