Metro Dream Ends: Bhubaneswar–Cuttack Project Scrapped, ₹200 Crore Lost

On Monday, Odisha Congress MLA Sofia Firdous repeated her call for the Bhubaneswar–Cuttack Metro Rail project to start up again right away. She said that the state government has wasted almost Rs 200 crore of public money because of delays and indecision.

Firdous said that the Metro project was first planned to go from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack through Trisulia, with an extension to SCB Medical College and Hospital in the first phase. She said that as a member of the standing committee, she knew that the state government had already spent about Rs 200 crore on hiring consultants, contractors, moving people, and doing preliminary work.

Rs 200cr Wasted
We also asked that the metro project from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack via Trisualia be extended to SCB Medical College and Hospital in the first phase. As a member of the standing committee, I know that the state has already spent Rs 200 crore on the project for the consultants and contractors who did the mobilization and other work. Sofia said, "Now, the whole Rs 200 crore that belongs to the people of Odisha has gone to waste."

She went on to say, "The metro rail is necessary to make Cuttack-Bhubaneswar an economic corridor and to deal with the traffic jams we have today."  We've already wasted a lot of time—two years have already gone by. At first, the project was going to be underground, but then they changed their minds and made it overhead. But I don't get why the government is putting this project on hold or what it gets out of it.

The government should respond.

"We have asked for a metro many times." First, they should link Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. There is also a need to extend to other places. So, she went on, "We demand that the project happen at any cost."

"The state has lost a huge Rs 200 crore because everyone has been paid. The state government was willing to spend Rs 1000 crore on the project and had already put it in the state budget. But they should explain why it is being canceled now after two years of work and a lot of public money. So, she said, "the project should start up again, and we demand it."

"We will talk about this in the Vidhan Sabha and keep doing so. The government should listen to what the people want and do what they say. Sofia said, "They can start the same project again if they want to."