Agra, Jul 24 (IANS): After the Supreme Court green signalled the Agra Metro project, the fourth largest in the state, the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (UPMRCL) has started gearing up. The biggest task, however, is planting 18,230 saplings as per the Supreme Court order.

The Agra Metro project is worth Rs 8,379.62 crore having two corridors -- Sikandra to Taj East Gate of 14 km route length and Agra Cantt to Kalindi Vihar of 15.4 km. The corridor 1 -- Sikandra to Taj East Gate -- will comprise 13 Metro stations, six elevated and seven underground.

The project will benefit around 20 lakh people.

The feasibility study for the Agra Metro project was conducted in 2016, which was later approved by the Cabinet on February 28, 2019.

On March 8, 2019, the Prime Minister laid down the foundation stone of the project via video conferencing. Due to the restrictions and intervention from the Supreme Court of India, the construction work was put on hold which finally got a nod from the apex court two days ago.

The apex court gave its approval for the implementation of the Agra Metro project subject to certain guidelines and conditions to be followed as per the recommendations of the Central Empowered Committee.

The apex court stated that as per the recommendations of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), UPMRC will now have to plant 18,230 saplings, 10 times more than the number initially proposed during the project execution phase.

The CEC submitted its final recommendations to the Supreme Court on February 12, 2020. In a hearing held in December last year, the court sought a report from the CEC on the petition of the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation to which the Committee itself visited Agra and after overviewing the overall conditions gave its final approval for the implementation of the Agra Metro project.

Kumar Keshav, MD, UPMRCL said, "It's a moment of immense pleasure for the entire UPMRC team that the apex court has finally given its nod to carry on the civil construction work of the Agra Metro project.

"We have already floated various tenders of the Agra Metro to expedite the commencement of the civil construction work. We had received various 'Green Initiative' awards for the Lucknow Metro project, which will be replicated in Agra and Kanpur Metro projects. We will continue to strive hard to achieve our mission of 'Green Metro-Clean Metro'."