Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kerjiwal today said the construction work for the Phase 4 of the Delhi Metro should begin at the earliest without a "blame game", a day after the Supreme Court said the "project cannot wait". The court was told that the project was delayed after the "stalemate in discussions between the centre and Delhi government.
"I hope the centre will give the permission for the rest of the three corridors also. People want the work for Delhi Metro Phase 4 to start soon.The work is on hold since many years. Let's not play blame game, everybody should work together and ensure that the work is finished soon... this is in public interest," Mr Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi this morning.
On Friday, the top court directed the authorities concerned to commence construction work on the project. The court was hearing a case in which the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) had filed a report stating that the approval for the project was held up since 2014.
In its report, the EPCA had referred to the "stalemate in discussions" between the state government and the centre over the project. "There is a stalemate in the discussions between the Union Government and the Delhi government on different financial aspects of the project. The Delhi government has on April 10, 2019 communicated its direction that DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) would not start work of Delhi Metro phase-IV till these issues are resolved," the report read. The counsel appearing for the Delhi government said they agreed to give a go ahead to the Phase 4 of the Delhi metro.
The EPCA report further said that the project is "critical as it will add another 104 km to the network".
The Delhi government told the top court on Friday that they have agreed to give a go-ahead for the project.
(With inputs from PTI)
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