Strongly oppose Chandigarh Metro, entire city will be uprooted: Kirron Kher

Tewari expressed concern over undue delay in the Metro project and demanded the project be expedited as traffic congestion was increasing each day.

Kher said this at the meeting of the Administrator’s Advisory Council (AAC) chaired by UT Administrator and Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria. The AAC meeting took place after almost a year.

As many as 60 members from various strata are on the Advisory Council, which discusses issues relevant to the city and acts accordingly.

When Kher’s turn came, she said, “I still strongly oppose the Metro project. It is not a viable project at all. The entire city will be uprooted. Moreover, Metro won’t be coming immediately. It will take 15-20 years, if approved.” She suggested having a congestion tax and other ideas to ease congestion.

“It’s better to bring in things like congestion tax, like Central London, here to ease traffic congestions,” she said.

The Metro project

The RITES agency prepared an alternative analysis report, recommending a two-coach Metro train for the city for Rs 24,000 crore.

In the last meeting, the administration had said it would conduct a viability study on Metro.

At the meeting of the Unified Metro Transportation Authority (UMTA), Kataria had suggested that before going ahead with the project, the authorities should check the viability of Metro first.

Under Phase-I which was proposed to be completed by 2032, a stretch of 85.65-km has been proposed (both overground and underground) in Tricity with a 16.5-km underground route in heritage sectors of Chandigarh.