The Hindu : Shekhawat has a feel of Metro

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 10, 2003

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Shekhawat has a feel of Metro

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI JAN. 9. The red carpet was once again rolled out at Kashmere Gate station of Delhi Metro today as the Vice-President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, visited the Capital's latest acquisition and took a ride on the modern system all the way up to Shahdara and back.

The highest person on protocol to have visited the Metro so far - the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, still remains - Mr Shekhawat brought his own travel card and used it for gaining access to the station through the automatic doors. For many, though, the old-fashioned paper tickets did the trick.

With the entourage comprising the Union Urban Development Minister, Ananth Kumar, the Delhi Transport Minister Ajay Maken, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Chairman and Delhi BJP president, Madan Lal Khurana, and the DMRC Managing Director, E. Sreedharan, besides a large number of officials, security was quite tight.

Two coaches out of the four were kept reserved for the invitees, officials, media and security personnel. Mr Shekhawat took the elevator for reaching the platform from where he boarded the train. All the way, Mr Khurana and senior DMRC official kept explaining the fine points of the system to him.

Looking out of the train window, the Vice-President hoped that one day the areas surrounding the tracks would appear as beautiful as the system itself. Enjoying the experience to the full, Mr Shekhawat even stepped out of the train for a while when it reached Seelampur station and waved to the crowds.

Thereafter he resumed his journey from the coach, to which the media personnel were kept away, by overzealous security personnel. At Shahdara, he acquainted himself with the system by getting off the train, going down to the concourse level and returning to the opposite platform for boarding the return trip.

The families of several dignitaries had also come for the joyride. The largest was the family of Mr Khurana, who had come with his two daughters, son and their spouses along with 10 grandchildren. His daughter, Poonam Gulati, appeared pleased as punch with the system: "It is just like being in a foreign country'', she gushed.

On returning to Kashmere Gate, Mr Shekhawat reacted to "politicisation of Metro'' by hoping that "the politics of the country would also become as clean as the Metro one day.'' Noting that the system was very safe and secure for travel, he said it would also inculcate a sense of discipline among commuters.

The Vice-President, who was presented a model of the Metro as a memento and briefed on pollution, energy consumption and upkeep of stations, said the manner in which the Metro had been created and was being run ensures that there is no misuse of public property.

The Delhi Transport Minister said though the visits of the dignitaries were being planned with a political objective in mind, he was not averse to the idea as it brought greater publicity and enhanced public curiosity about the system.

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