Cabinet Approves the Delhi Metro raIlways (Amendment) bill, 2009
The Government proposes to bring a bill namely The Delhi Metro Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2009 to amend the Delhi Metro (Operation & Maintenance) Act, 2002 and the Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978.
The requirement to move this bill is that without a proper legal framework the construction work of extension to Gurgaon and Noida can be stalled / stopped any time or legally challenged leading to complications. Since these extensions are to be completed before the Commonwealth Games, 2010, there is an urgency to provide an appropriate legal cover for these extensions. As all the Metro projects involve huge capital investment, any delay in execution of these projects can lead to huge time and cost overruns and ultimately loss to the State / National Exchequer. The growing urbanisation and congestion on roads, providing public transport is a priority area of the Government.
The proposed bill would extend the jurisdiction of the aforesaid Acts to NCR of Delhi. The Delhi Metro (Operation & Maintenance) Act, 2002 is proposed to be amended so as -
i) to extend its provisions to the National Capital Region.
ii) to empower the Metro Railway Administration to provide for other transport services for the purpose of facilitating the carriage of passengers or to provide integrated transport services;
iii) to place the Commissioners of Metro Railway Safety under the administrative control of the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety;
iv) to provide that the Commissioner shall be deemed to be Civil Court for the purposes of section 121 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, also.
The Cabinet has approved today the proposed bill of The Delhi Metro Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2009.
To facilitate construction of Metro Railway in Delhi, the Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978 was enacted by Parliament to facilitate construction work of Kolkata Metro Railways, was extended to National Capital Territory of Delhi vide Notification dated 5.6.2000. Since there was no legislation available for operation and maintenance of Metro Railways in Delhi, the Parliament enacted the Delhi Metro Railways (Operation & Maintenance) Act, 2002 to facilitate operation and maintenance of Delhi Metro.
Many State Governments have opted for setting up of high capacity Metro Rail System in their States to meet their growing urban transport demand. On their requests, Metro Rail System have already been approved by Government of India for Bangalore on 27.4.2006 and its extension to Noida and Gurgaon on 17.10.2006. The construction has already begun at these places. Besides this, the Metro System is at different stages of consideration in cities of Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai etc. The management of such system is proposed through a Government owned company on the model of DMRC. The extensions to Gurgaon and Noida are being implemented by DMRC but at present there is no legal cover for these extensions. Since these extensions are to be completed before October, 2010 in view of Commonwealth Games and the Bangalore Metro is also to be provided proper legal cover, it is considered necessary to urgently provide an appropriate legal cover for development, construction, operation and maintenance of Metro Railways in various cities in India.
TFK/MT
(Release ID :47095)