The Uttar Pradesh government is hoping to make the north-south corridor of the Lucknow Metro operational by April next year, amid allegations of delay in the operations.
Around 58 per cent of the project (22.878 km) is complete and the government will start operations even before time, Dinesh Sharma, UP deputy chief minister, told the Legislative Council during the Question Hour, while replying to Anand Bhadauria of the Samajwadi Party about reasons behind the delay.
Sharma maintained that the construction work of the Rs 6,928-crore project is progressing as per schedule and it would be operational by April, 2019.
The leader of the Opposition in the House, Ahmed Hasan, said the Lucknow Metro was a gift of the Samajwadi Party and accused the BJP of snatching credit by delaying the project by almost nine months.
However, the deputy chief minister argued the trial run in December, 2016, was in violation of the laid down norms.
"Trial cannot be assumed to be inauguration. Metro Rail has its own security parameters, which have to be completed and adhered to. Only after this, the metro train will run," Sharma said.
The trial run of the Lucknow Metro was held on December 1 last year when the state was in election mode to elect a new assembly.
It was flagged off by the then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav at a function at Transport Nagar depot for the trial run up to the Charbagh railway station, a 8.5 km stretch.
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