By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: On October 19, 2023, when Naveen Patnaik was in power, two leaders including Spokesperson Anil Biswal and Media Coordinator Sujit Das held a press meet in Bhubaneswar . Matter was Bhubaneswar Metro Rail Project.
Read wthat they said then and compare what State Chief Minister and Works Minster saying now.The Bhubaneswar Metro Rail Project (Phase-1) has been terminated by the Odisha government. On April 4, 2026, the Odisha Cabinet (chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi) approved the retrospective expenditure of Rs 273.51 crore incurred on the project until December 31, 2025, and formally terminated the agreement with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which was acting as the turnkey consultant.
An Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) review found that the project did not meet key requirements of the National Metro Rail Policy 2017. Traffic demand was below the required threshold, and projected ridership was too low, which would have led to substantial annual operating losses. The government is now shifting focus to a broader, more sustainable urban mobility framework instead of pursuing this standalone elevated metro in its current form.
On October 19, 2023, BJP leaders claim was like this ” Metro trains have already run in 15 cities across the country today. Similarly, new metro rail projects are under construction in 7 more cities. Metro rail is also running in Bihar, the state of the poor. After 22 cities of the country have now got metro rail facilities, now Odisha government’s metro rail project is remembered. Metro trains are running in almost all the big states, but Odisha government is stuck in DPR, advertisement,’
Odisha is lagging behind in the rule of Biju Janata Dal. A stable government is going on in Odisha but our development is delayed. In 2017, Narendra Modi’s government brought Metro Train Policy in the Center. In that, the central government has arranged to give 50 percent of the money to all the projects. Similarly, the Delhi Metro Railway Corporation of the Central Government has been given the responsibility to implement Metro projects in all the major cities of the country. But due to the poor politics and lack of efforts of the Odisha government, the people of Odisha are being deprived of their rights.
It was reported that the Chief Minister had approved the Metro Rail project on the auspicious day of Utkal Divas on April 1. However, according to the information obtained in the Information Officer Act, the Chief Minister had not held any meeting or any discussion at the government level before making that announcement. The Chief Minister is perhaps the only ruler in the world to make such sudden announcements without discussions, without meetings. Did the Chief Minister try to make Odisha people do “April Fool” on Utkal Divas?
The Chief Minister has made a record in both giving promises and cheating. Where did the Jagmara-Khandagiri 200 feet road which was declared 10 years ago go? When will the expansion of the Jaydev Bihar-Nandan Kanan road and the work of the proposed Sarport road on both sides be completed? When will Bhubaneswar city get rid of the problem of flood. Looking at all this, it seems that will the metro rail project work be completed or it will only be stuck with the colorful animated video posted on the social media page of Biju Janata Dal.
Metro Rail project is going to be constructed with the cooperation of central government, it is being told falsely that it is happening in the state government’s own budget. Just like they said that they will give vaccine by declaring global tender at the time of Covid, but they could not buy even a needle. Central government supplied all Covid vaccines.
In 2018, the Chief Minister himself had said that he would build 29 dams in Mahanadi, but he could not do even one. Government had announced to establish cold storage in all the blocks in 2013, but could not. Only before the election, these are announced, they forget after the election.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan became Chief Minister for the first time in 2005. Metro trains are running in two cities in Madhya Pradesh today. Narendra Modi became the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001. Metro trains are running in 3 cities there now. Naveen Babu himself became Chief Minister in 2000. Naveen Babu was the chief minister at the forefront but fell behind in the race of development.
Before Narendra Modi’s government came in the center in 2014, metro was running in only 5 cities in the country. Today in just 9 years it has reached 15 cities. Similarly, new metro rail projects are under construction in 7 other cities. In 2014, there were 229 km of metro lines in the country. Now it has crossed 845 km. Along with this, another 1000 km metro rail project is under construction in the country, but Odisha is not able to take this benefit. Because Narendra Modi will take the name of Naveen Babu in the future, that fear is increasing. This is a symptom of dirty politics,”
