Agra Metro Rail Corporation will run within 100 meters of four major monuments. Aside from Agra’s famed Red Taj Mahal, the metro train track has lately been permitted to pass near the Patthar Ghoda, Lal Masjid, and Arambagh landmarks.
Agra has proposed two 29-kilometer-long metro lines. The first corridor will be 14 kilometers long, extending from Sikandra to the East Gate of the Taj Mahal, with 7 underground and 6 elevated stops.
The first corridor will pass near eight protected sites, including the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, while the metro line will be barely 25 meters away from Guru Ka Tal’s Patthar Ghoda monument.
The metro line will be only 20 meters away from the Red Taj Mahal (Hessing’s Tomb) built at the Roman Catholic Cemetery on Mahatma Gandhi Marg, 66 meters away from the Lal Masjid on Water Works Crossing, and 70 meters away from the Arambagh monument.
The second elevated metro line would run from Cantt station to Kalindi Vihar, passing near four protected monuments. According to Arvind Rai, director of the Agra Metro project, the NMA has granted special permission for this activity. The installation of a metro track and station would not imperil the ASI sites but will help them by lowering vehicle strain on neighboring roads, according to the director.
According to Vishal Sharma, secretary of the Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber, the Supreme Court issued orders in September 2022 prohibiting commercial activities within 500 meters of the Taj Mahal, and now metro trains will pass just a few steps away from the monuments, causing unimaginable damage to the monuments with their boom.
Vishal Sharma maintained his previous position that Agra did not require a metro rail. “In this case, the transportation problem could have been easily solved by building an elevated electric bus corridor, which would not only have been less expensive but would also have resulted in significantly lower long-term costs.” “A massive project like Metro Rail will be detrimental to the economy of Agra,” stated Vishal Sharma.
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