In a major development in Odisha’s MRTS project, the state government has signed the MoU with Secundarabad-based consultant, BARSYL (Balaji Railroad Systems) who will be responsible for preparing the Detailed Project Reports (DPR) on twin city metro rail service.
The BARSYL has been selected through the competitive bidding process and will get Rs. 2.52 crore as consultant fee to prepare DPR for MRTS. As per the agreement, BARSYL has agreed to prepare the DPR for 30 KMs within a period of ten months.
The MRTS (Mass Rapid Transit System) is a plan under the scheme of Urban Transport Planning whose cost will be borne equally by the state and central government.
The MRTS is aimed at encouraging Indian cities with over 2 million people to plan and implement high-capacity and high-speed metro rail systems to facilitate safe, affordable, comfortable, reliable and sustainable mode of public transport to the commuters.
BARSYL will be primarily responsible for the preparation of project reports which would cover:
# Traffic Demand Assessment and System Selection
# Mobility Analysis
# Alignment Study
# Multimodal Land Use Integration Plan
# Land Acquisition Details
# Transit Oriented Development
# Cost Estimation
# Funding Pattern Alternatives
Based on the DPR, the state government will be able to devise an effective plan on the project initiation and implementation.
According to official reports, the MRTS project would be expanded to Jatni, Khurda, Barang and Chowdwar once it is fully operational along the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack corridor. Officially, the entire area would be called as the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Urban Complex (BCUC).
As per official statistics, the population of the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Urban Complex is estimated to touch a whopping 42 lakh by 2030.
MRTS Project to be over by 2020
As per official reports, the twin city mono rail should take nearly 5 years for completion. So the proposed project should be completed by 2020 once the construction is underway.
The construction cost of the monorail system is pegged at Rs 150 crore per km. Considering the distance between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack (30 kms), the estimated cost of the project should be in around Rs. 4,500 crore. As per the MRTS scheme, the state govt will bear 50% of the project cost which works out to Rs. 2,250 crore.
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