Three months behind schedule, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Lucknow Metro will now be ready by the year end.

On February 5, the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) had signed an MoU with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), enabling the latter to carry out a detailed study of the city’s traffic and transportation condition. The DMRC was asked to submit the report by mid-September.  

According to DMRC authorities, the soil and traffic study is taking time and without these reports the DPR cannot be completed. “As soil tests on the routes and the study of traffic in the city are still in process, the report may take at least three more months to complete,” said Brijesh Kumar, General Manager, DMRC. The LDA had identified two metro corridors for Lucknow — the 14-km North-South corridor from Amausi airport to Munshipulia and the 27-km East-West corridor from Gomti Nagar to Rajajipuram. The Ghaziabad-based Sai Geo-Technical and Construction Service has already completed the soil sample collection on the North-South corridor, and the exercise is still continuing on the East-West corridor. “We are trying to complete the soil tests as soon as possible,” said Navin Bihari, Managing Director of Sai Geo-Technical and Construction Service.

According to Bihari, the soil test reports will be submitted to SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited, the consultant appointed by DMRC for preparing the DPR. While soil testing is important, the traffic study will indicate the feasibility of the proposed routes.

Two months ago, the LDA had tied up with Central Road Research Institute to study various areas and chalk out a Comprehensive Mobility Plan to ease traffic congestion in Lucknow.