The Delhi government has approved the fourth phase of the Delhi Metro, a mega project that will take the mass rapid transit to the outer areas of the national capital.
After the completion of Phase IV, the total length of the metro corridor in the city will cross the 450-km mark. The length of the currently operational corridors is around 213 km and phase III will add another 140 km to it by the end of this year.
A senior official said that the government has cleared the original 'Detailed Project Report' prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) despite demands by a few MLAs for bringing about minor tweaks in the route.
"In the meeting, some changes were proposed but the project has been approved in its original form. The construction will start next year and is scheduled to end within three years," he said.
Earlier this month, a team of DMRC had made a presentation on the six proposed lines before Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The proposed lines are expected to add around 105 km to the metro network and make the airport more accessible for south Delhi residents.
The proposed corridors are Rithala - Narela (21.73 km) Inderlok - Indraprastha (12.57 km), Tughlakabad - Terminal 1 (22.20 km), Lajpat Nagar - Saket G-Block (7.96 km), Janakpuri (west) - RK Ashram (28.92 km) and Mukundpur-Maujpur (12.54 km).
The government had earlier written to DMRC, stating that it would prefer the revenue sharing model adopted in the construction of the previous Metro phases.
