Gurugram:Urban planning agency identifies land for metro depot in Sector 33

Gurugram: The Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran has identified 37 acres of land in Sector 33 which can be transferred to the Gurugram Metro Rail Limited (GMRL) for setting up a metro rail depot, officials said.
Last year, the Haryana government had asked the authority to identify government land for setting up a metro depot in Sector 33 as the location is on the proposed Gurugram metro alignment and would save at least ₹500 crore, which could be spent on acquisition. The estate officer II of the HSVP in whose jurisdiction the land falls, last month, apprised the higher authorities that out of 42.84 acres of land available in sector 33, 37.19 acres was available while around 5 acres was stuck in litigation.
The letter written last month by estate officer II, HSVP, observed that the exercise to identify the land was carried out after it was decided in a meeting held on August 11 last year that the land available under open spaces zone in Sector 33 Gurugram may be transferred to HMRTC from HSVP for setting up of the metro depot. The estate officer also observed that in two separate legal cases, the petitioners have claimed 3.50 acres and 2.15 acres of land. “The balance land 37.19 acres is free from court cases or litigation,” the letter said.
Last year, the Haryana Mass Rapid Transport Corporation Limited (HMRTC) had floated the proposal to shift the depot of the upcoming Gurugram Metro from the existing location earmarked for the facility in Sector 101 near Basai, to Sector 33 near Subash Chowk. The reason for the proposed shifting of the metro station was that the land in Basai, located close to the Dwarka Expressway, is unsuitable for construction as it is low-lying and wet, and one acre of additional land is yet to be acquired from private landowners.
However, a senior Gurugram Metro Rail Ltd official, the agency which is executing the Gurugram metro project said that a final decision is yet to be taken on whether the proposed depot should be constructed in Sector 33 or Sector 101 as earlier planned. “The GMRL board with assistance from technical experts will take the final decision on the site of the metro depot based on suitability. The best location will be chosen for the depot in the interest of commuters and the entire transport network. We are yet to take a final call on this,” he said.
The proposed 28.5-km long Gurugram Metro project will have 27 elevated metro stations and will have a spur from Basai to Dwarka Expressway, as per the approved plan.
The length of the line from HUDA City Centre to Cyber Hub, while passing through Subash Chowk, Hero Honda Chowk, and Palam Vihar will be 26.65 km, while the spur from Basai village to Dwarka Expressway will be 1.85 km.