National
Rajnath, UP CM inaugurate Lucknow Metro (Lead)
Lucknow, Sep 5 (IANS) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the first service of Lucknow Metro on Tuesday at the Transport Nagar railway station.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, senior Ministers of the state cabinet, local legislators and Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development Hardeep Puri were present on the occasion along with Principal Advisor to the project E. Sreedharan.
The 8.5 km stretch of the rapid transport Lucknow Metro system — from Transport Nagar to Charbagh railway station — will be open for public from Wednesday.
Adityanath, in his address on the occasion, lauded the team behind the project for its early completion and said the metro would ease traffic congestion in the state capital.
He assured that the work on other phases of the Lucknow Metro project would be completed at the earliest.
Adityanath also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for facilitating a loan from the European Investment Bank for the project.
He said the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for similar projects in many other cities have been submitted to the Union government, adding that metro rail services will be soon available to the residents of Kanpur, Varanasi and Jhansi besides other places.
The Chief Minister did not miss the chance to take a dig at his predecessor Akhilesh Yadav, who started the project and has been taunting the Bhartiya Janata Party government for the last few days over the inauguration.
He said earlier some people rushed through the projects’ inauguration but on Tuesday as he spoke, the event looked “bhara-bhara” (complete and full) as there was maximum participation.
On Monday, some workers of the Samajwadi Party (SP) had organised a mock inauguration of the Lucknow Metro and distributed sweets, crediting Akhilesh Yadav for the “gift to Lucknow”.
Yadav was invited but he chose not to turn up at the event and instead took to Twitter to express his views on the project which he conceived but was delivered by the BJP government.
Lucknow Metro project has been divided into two corridors — North-South and East-West.
The first phase of the project is set to cost the exchequer Rs 6,928 crore and the second corridor Rs 5,494 crore.
In the stretch that was inaugurated on Tuesday, there are ten stations with a stoppage of 30 seconds at each station. The train is designed to run at a speed of 80 kmph and would be available for commuters between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. initially.
There is a time gap of seven minutes between two trains which would be reduced to 4.5 minutes later, a Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) official told IANS.
The project is being financed under 50:50 Joint Venture model with equity participations from the Central government and the state government.
Apart from this, about 53 per cent of the project cost — Rs 3,502 crore — is being funded externally by way of loan — through foreign debt — from the European Investment Bank.
The completion cost (including central taxes) of Part-1A for North-South corridor is Rs 6,880 crore as per the revised DPR submitted to the Ministry of Urban Development in October 2013.
The FIRR (Financial Internal Rate Return) for the project is 8.12 per cent while the EIRR (Economic Internal Rate Return) is 19.43 per cent, officials said.
“The 8.5 km of Metro ‘Priority Corridor’ between Transport Nagar and Charbagh stretch has been executed in just over two years which is a record in itself,” Managing Director of LMRC, Kumar Keshav, told IANS.
“No other metro project has been able to achieve this feat in the past.”
Even contemporary metro projects in the country have not been able to match LMRC’s speed in project execution within such a stiff target date and sanctioned budget, Keshav added.
Lucknow Metro has also taken several energy conservation measures such as use of regenerative braking in the trains which will result in saving of 30 to 35 per cent traction energy thereby resulting in reduction in emission of greenhouse gases, an official said.
Use of 1 per cent criteria for underground stations in the AC system for the stations, using Variable Voltage Variable Frequency drive for all lifts and escalators, provision of LED lights at stations, use of energy efficient equipment for Environment Control System and Tunnel Ventilation System for the underground section are other such measures, the official added.
Many solar power initiatives have also been taken in the project. The LMRC has planned to use 1.5 MW – 2 MW of electricity from the roof mounted solar photo voltaic cells of train stabling and inspection line sheds under RESCO model.
LMRC has implemented green construction practices at its project site like wheel washing of vehicles leaving its site, tree transplantation, recycling of curing water, regular cleaning and maintaining aesthetically pleasing barricades at construction site, among others.
“Because of all these novel measures, Lucknow Metro will be able to recover the entire cost of the project in five years” an official said.
–IANS
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Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.
The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.
Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.
Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.
For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.
During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.
Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.
Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .
Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.
In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.
In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.
He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.
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