Visakhapatnam: Metro extension likely

Visakhapatnam: Going hand in hand, rapid urbanisation has changed the dynamics and economic and social landscape of Vizag city, particularly in the last one decade. It has fuelled the maximum growth towards Mahdurawada, Rushikonda and further north-eastwards. Now, to match up with this growth phenomenon and to increase mobility towards the proposed Bhogapuram airport, the AECOM’s (the project management consultant of the Vizag Smart City project) recent report mooted revision of the Vizag metro rail project plan to connect it to the proposed new airport.

Currently, the DPR for the 42.5-km Vizag metro rail project is limited Kommadi near Madhurawada, some 30 km away from Bhogapuram. The report stressed on forecasting the future mobility needs with changing land use patterns and the proposed new airport. Direct connection from the Dwaraka bus station to the new airport has also been one of the proposals. As per the report, the core city will take the centre stage with various signature development projects and will further see a meteoric rise.

Madhurawada, Rushikonda and other suburbs in the vicinity will develop as a knowledge industry cluster, shaping the future educational, tourism and recreational trajectories of the city. On the other hand, the southern industrial area will develop into smaller, mixed-use urban sub-centres. As always, the coastline of the city will be its unique blessing. When contacted, a GVMC official informed the proposal of extension of the metro to the new airport was part of informal debates among the Vizagites as well as official circles from the day one of the new airport project surfaced. “But currently our concentration is on starting the first phase of works,” said the official.

Anticipating future stress points based on the projection of the growth trajectory is also the need of the hour. Bhogapuram airport was not part of any mass rapid transit system studies taken up earlier. Providing a rapid and efficient transit access to the airports is a needed requirement of the mobility plan of any city as no other mode of transport can equate to the capacity of the trains in terms of number of passengers.