Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Metro rail project scrapped, Rs 200 crore gone to waste: Sofia Firdous

Odisha Congress MLA Sofia Firdous on Monday reiterated her demand for the immediate resumption of the Bhubaneswar–Cuttack Metro Rail project, alleging that nearly Rs 200 crore of public money has gone to waste due to delays and indecision by the state government.

Speaking on the issue, Firdous said the Metro project was initially planned from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack via Trisulia, with a proposed extension up to SCB Medical College and Hospital in the first phase itself. She claimed that as a member of the standing committee, she was aware that the state government had already spent around Rs 200 crore on consultants, contractors, mobilisation, and preliminary works.

Rs 200cr Gone Waste

“The metro project from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack via Trisualia; we also had demanded that it be extended till SCB Medical College & Hospital in the first phase. As I’m in the standing committee, I know that the state has already spent Rs 200 crore in the project for the consultants and the contractors who carried out the mobilization and other works. Now, the whole Rs 200 crore that belongs to the people of Odisha has gone to waste,” alleged Sofia.

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She further added, “In today’s traffic congestion, and to make Cuttack-Bhubaneswar an economic corridor, the metro rail is a necessity.  We have already lost a lot of time, as two years have been lost. First, the project was supposed to go underground, and then they changed the plan to make it overhead. But, I don’t understand why the government is stalling this project and what it gets out of this.”

Government Should Answer

“We have put forward our demands for a metro on repeated occasions. First, they should connect Bhubaneswar to Cuttack. There is also a need for extension to other places. So, we demand that the project should happen at any cost,” she further added.

“The state has lost a whopping Rs 200 crore as everyone has been paid. It was an Rs 1000 crore project, and the state government was ready to spend and had included it in the state budget. But, they should answer as to why it is being scrapped now after losing two years and spending so much of public money. So, the project should resume again, and it is our demand,” she added.

“We will take up this matter at the Vidhan Sabha and will continue to do so. The government should be answerable to the demands of the public and work properly on it. The same project can be resumed if they want to,” concluded Sofia.