Jaipur Metro, touted as one of the fastest built metro, starts operations
As Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje flagged off the inaugural run of Jaipur Metro on Wednesday morning, the event became much of a political slugfest between the Opposition Congress and the ruling BJP. While an ecstatic crowd of BJP workers thronged the Mansarovar Metro station and propped up life-size posters of Raje along Metro stations thanking her for the ‘gift’, Congress workers distributed sweets outside Metro stations hailing former CM Ashok Gehlot’s ‘far-sightedness’.
Last year, at the beginning of her second tenure, Raje had expressed her disapproval of the Metro project and called it a loss-making venture. Started in 2010, the pet project of former CM Ashok Gehlot has been repeatedly run down by the Raje government. However, on Wednesday, even Raje could not ignore the palpable excitement of first-time commuters and party workers at the inaugural run of the Metro, though she reiterated that the design of the 9.63 km corridor was “flawed” and hampered the “beauty of the historic city”.
“Jaipur is a historic city and a tourist destination. The Metro has affected the skyline of the city and thereby its beauty. Usually Metros are planned in such a manner that it enhances the beauty of the city, but unfortunately that did not happen here. We will see how this can be rectified and the beauty of the city be restored,” she said.
“This is the only Metro that has been fully funded by the state government. We have to quickly commission the next phase so that it becomes financially viable and the state government does not have to subsidise it continuously.”
State BJP president Ashok Parnami lauded Raje for the project and said, “During her first term, Raje had placed the city on the world map and she will now take it to new heights yet again. Over the past year, she has tirelessly ensured the safety of the line being commissioned today.”
But Raje remained non-committal on safety standards. “I hope the company hired to implement the project must have taken care of the safety and security,” she said.
Taking a dig at Raje, Gehlot said, “This day will go down in the history of the state. I would like to thank ‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan for making this possible. I will not criticise anyone but I hope the Metro ride today will convince Chief Minister Raje to expedite the other upcoming Metro corridors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had enjoyed a Metro ride in Delhi and I am hopeful Raje will also be moved by the ride today.”
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