Metro says yes to IGI tunnel under runway

New Delhi: Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan is learnt to have agreed to Airports Authority of India's (AAI) request for building the runway-tunnel link from Dwarka roundabout to a road leading to the upcoming terminal (T3). DMRC has sought an advance deposit of Rs 35 crore, roughly half of the total cost of the 1.5-km-long and six-lane link with a 343-metre tunnel that will pass under IGI's main runway. AAI, said sources, will ask the Delhi government to release this amount to them so that the work can begin at the earliest.
Sreedharan conveyed his consent last Friday. DMRC has sought Rs 35 crore immediately to begin preliminary investigation and preparatory work, said a relieved top AAI official. Metro had initially expressed reservation about taking up the project as its hands were full in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games. But given Metro's expertise in tunnelling work, the aviation ministry was very keen that it agrees. So AAI chairman V P Agrawal took up the issue with Sreedharan. Now DMRC will be building both high-speed rail and new road link to T3.
The aviation ministry is according top priority to this project as it has to be ready much before the Commonwealth Games in October.
19/01/10 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jan 2010