Agra (UP)/UNI: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday inaugurated the construction of the Agra Metro rail tunnel at a ground-breaking ceremony held at Ramlila Maidan in front of Agra Fort.

The CM first signed the ring segment on his arrival at the launching shaft at Ramlila Maidan, offered prayers and then pressed the button, formally kicking off the tunnel construction.

The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) in Agra has been named after Ganga and Yamuna. This tunnel boring machine will prepare up to 10-12 meters of tunnels every day.

Two parallel tunnels are to be constructed for the up-and-down track in the underground part of the Agra Metro by the UP Metro Corporation.

In his brief speech on the occasion, CM Yogi said that the Metro Rail and the upcoming G-20 event will promote Agra globally as an important investment and tourist destination.

"G-20 is a group of the most prestigious countries of the world. India has got the honour of presiding over the forum under the leadership of PM Modi. Four cities of UP have been selected for holding the G-20 summits of which three meetings will be held in Agra," said Yogi Adityanath.

"The first summit will be held on February 10, 11, 12 and 13 while two summits will be held in the month of August. A total of 11 G-20 meetings will be held in Varanasi, Lucknow, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Agra," he said.

Expressing his satisfaction over the ongoing preparations for the G-20 in Agra, Yogi said, "With the spirit of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' and 'One Earth, One Family and One Future' we will present India’s rich legacy of treating guests with the spirit of Atithi Devo Bhava to the delegates."

"I am glad that the local administration, public representatives and public have joined hands to make the much anticipated event successful in terms of boosting tourism and opening up new avenues of investment in Agra," he added.

He said that work on the six-kilometre-long priority corridor, having 3 km each elevated and underground tunnels being built as part of Agra Metro’ was going on in full swing and was expected to be completed six months ahead of schedule.

The CM said the deadline set for completion of the priority corridor is August 2024, but the authorities are moving ahead with full commitment to complete the work 6 months ahead of time while following the TTZ's guidelines and complying with all environmental standards.

He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took part in the Bhumi Pujan ceremony of Agra Metro in December 2020.

Yogi said, "I am happy that all standards regarding environment and safety are being taken care of in the construction. In UP we are already running metro services in Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Kanpur."

He said, "For the development of public transport as well as tourism facilities and better employment generation in Agra, the people's representatives have been demanding this state-of-the-art means of public transport for a long time.

"It is our effort that by December, we will complete the work of the Priority Corridor which is about 6 km long. Meanwhile, two corridors with a length of 29.4 km have already been approved to be developed here."

Expressing his gratitude to the Prime Minister and the Union Government for their contribution towards the construction of Agra Metro and congratulating officials of the UP Metro Corporation and Agra Metro for their dedicated hard work, Yogi said that the project was progressing rapidly and would be completed on time. He said that Agra Metro will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.

The CM also thanked the public representatives and the people for their cooperation. It may be noted that a total of 7 underground stations and underground tunnels will be built through tunnel boring machines Ganga and Yamuna. Agra Metro is to have a network of 29.4 km long two corridors, which will have 27 stations.

The construction work of the 14 km long first corridor between Taj East Gate and Sikandra is progressing at a fast pace. As many as 13 stations will be constructed in this corridor, including 6 elevated and 7 underground stations.