Lucknow: Did you know that the Mahanagar area of the city was part of the Metro route in the original alignment plan, but was later dropped? The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in the state assembly on Friday revealed that the Mahanagar Metro station, between IT College Crossing and Badshah Nagar, was mentioned in the DPR, but did not make it to the final list.The CAG report notes that in December 2013, the central government had granted prior approval for Phase 1A of Lucknow Metro. The DPR, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Center and the UP government, the financing contract with the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the project agreement with the EIB have specified the construction of 22 stations along the 23-km-long corridor.According to DPR, Mahanagar station was expected to have the third highest number of passengers in 2015 and the second highest by 2020.
A source in the Lucknow Municipal Corporation said that the area has two separate wards (Mahanagar and Vivekananda Puri) with a population of more than a lakh.However, the review found that the implementing company – UP Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) – built only 21 stations, dropping Mahanagar from the alignment. The report says that no evidence has been produced to show that any proposal to exclude it was made before the central or state governments and no approval was obtained.
The CAG noted that the sanctioned DPR bypass violates several binding documents — DPR, MoU, financing contract, project agreement — and deprives the Mahanagar district of a major metro facility despite the expected rise in ridership.In September 2024, the state government claimed that the change had not been hidden, stating that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had notified the alignment with 21 stations after examining them against the original DPR.The CAG found the state government’s response unconvincing, pointing out that while the UPMRC informed MoHUA of other major modifications – such as changing the proposed elevated station at Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport to an underground station – it failed to disclose the removal of the Mahanagar station. The audit stressed that any deviation from the approved redevelopment plan required separate and explicit approval from the Iraqi government with justification, which was neither requested nor granted.Reacting to the CAG report, UPMRC told TOI that station locations have been improved by dropping Mahanagar. It was convenient that the stations ‘IT Chauraha’ and ‘Badshah Nagar’ were closer to Mahanagar. Usually a distance of one kilometer is maintained between each station.
