All the stations of the much-needed Noida-Greater Noida Metro Rail’s corridor’s Aqua line will be powered by solar energy soon. A senior official, associated with the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC), said the board on Monday inked an agreement with a private firm for the installation of solar panels.
As per the agreement, these panels will be installed on rooftops of all the 21 stations. Besides, parking areas and boundary walls of metro stations will also be equipped with these solar panels.
The official made it clear the work would be carried out as per RESCO model, according to which the private agency would bear all the cost of the project whereas the NMRC would provide space only. The agency would also be responsible for project’s operations and maintenance for 25 years.
Talking to City Spidey, P D Upadhyay, executive director of NMRC said, “Agency will start the work within a month and is likely to complete it within the next six months. The agency would be aiming to generate nearly 10 MW power per day and the NMRC would be charged at Rs 3.25 per unit, which is the lowest tariff for any metro rail service using solar power. The power would be used at all the stations, depots and in the parking areas.”
NMRC had earlier announced that all the metro stations covering this stretch as well as the metro coaches will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. The beautification of the stations and the coaches will be done through different artistic designs, mural paintings, sculptures etc by a hired art agency.
Besides, all the stations will be operated by multi-nodal traffic integration system. This will make earmarked spaces for parking of buses, taxis, e-rickshaws, autos and vendor zone available at all metro stations.
When we asked about the details of its full-fledged operations, Upadhyay concluded saying, “The infrastructure work on the Aqua line, started in 2015, has been completed and is currently under inspection by the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS).
The 29.8 km stretch of Aqua line metro will connect two growing cities of Gautam Buddh Nagar district (From Sector 71 Noida to Delta 1 Greater Noida).
