Metro gives in, Jamia station gets new site

THE proposed Jamia Nagar Metro station has finally been moved from the main gardens to one end of Jamia Millia Islamia, following a wave of protests in which Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid and Vice-Chancellor Najeeb Jung had pitched in.

Putting an end to the row over the site of the station, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Friday said the new site at Noam Chomsky Centre, which is at the far end of the university between the campus and Batla House, would be more accessible to people in the area.

The site, 120 metres from the previous one, was selected after a joint inspection by a Jamia Millia Islamia professor and the DMRC.

Professor Khalid Moin, head of the university's Engineering and Technology department, said the DMRC needed a small plot for the station and that has been provided to it.

"No building will have to be razed for the purpose. The inspection was satisfactory. It was required in order to comply with the proposal given by us in our last meeting with DMRC officials. DMRC had done their initial study and calculations and they reported it to us," Moin, who was part of the inspection team, said.

"It is to our satisfaction. People from the Jamia Nagar locality will also have a closer access to the Metro station now," he said.

"The Jamia Nagar Metro station has been shifted towards Kalindi Kunj, matching the alignment of the corridor. There is a consensus over the new site. The station will be designed to suit the location," a DMRC spokesperson said. He said work on the station's new would begin immediately.

The original site was in front of the administrative block that overlooks the main gardens, prompting Vice-Chancellor Jung to write to the DMRC to shift the location of the station.

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