By Ashley Karen
Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister officially opened the Agra Metro rail tunnel construction at a ground-breaking ceremony held at Ramlila Maidan in front of the Agra Fort.
He first signed the ring segment on his arrival at the launching shaft at Ramlila Maidan, offered prayers, and then pushed the button, formally launching the tunnel construction.
The TBM in Agra has been named after Ganga and Yamuna. This machine will drill up to 10-12 meters of tunnels every day. Two parallel tunnels are claimed to be built for the up-and-down track in the underground part of the Agra Metro by UP Metro Corporation.
Chief Minister Yogi gave a brief speech and stated that the Metro Rail and the upcoming G-20 event will advance Agra globally as a significant investment and tourist destination.
Yogi declared: “G-20 is a group of the most prestigious countries of the world. India has got the honor of presiding over the forum under the leadership of PM Modi. 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 forum is said to be held on February 10, 11, 12 and 13, while two summits will be held in August 2023. A total of eleven G-20 meetings will be held in Varanasi, Lucknow, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Agra.
The chief minister expressed his satisfaction over the ongoing preparations for the G-20 in Agra and pointed out: “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) to the delegates.”
He continued: “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.”
Mr. Adityanath articulated that work on the six-meter-long priority corridor, having 3 km each of elevated and underground tunnels being constructed as part of Agra Metro’ was going on in full swing and was anticipated to be finished six months forward the schedule.
As the CM claimed, the deadline set for completion of the priority corridor is August 2024, nevertheless, the authorities are moving ahead with a complete commitment to finish the work six months ahead of the schedule while following the TTZ’s guidelines and complying with all environmental standards. He also stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took part in the Bhumi Pujan ceremony of Agra Metro in December 2020.
The construction work of two underground tunnels for Ganga and Yamuna started on 6 February with the help of Ganga-Yamuna TBM.
CM Yogi pointed out: “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.”
Mr. Adityanath expressing his gratitude to the Prime Minister and the Government of India for their contribution towards the construction of Agra Metro and congratulating officials of the Uttar Pradesh Metro Corporation and Agra Metro for their dedicated hard work.
He declared that the project was progressing rapidly and would be finished on time. According to his statement, Agra Metro will be equipped with advanced facilities. Also, the Chief Minister thanked the people’s representatives and the people for their cooperation.
