Last Updated: March 14, 2024, 16:50 IST
Days After Inauguration, Agra Fort Metro Station Renamed Dr Ambedkar Chowk. (Photo: Metro Rail News)
UPMRC has been directed to change all signs and inscriptions to reflect the new name and the cost of renaming the metro station is projected to be Rs 1 lakh.
Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the Agra Fort metro station, it has been officially renamed to honour former Union law minister Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.
The station, inaugurated on March 6, was previously known as Agra Fort Station and will now be called Dr. Ambedkar Chowk Metro Station, according to an order issued by the Uttar Pradesh government.
It is to be noted that the renaming of the metro station comes as a response to a longstanding demand. This demand was recently addressed to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by UP Cabinet Minister Baby Rani Maurya in a memorandum on March 7.
The renaming decision was initiated by an order from the Additional Chief Secretary of Housing and Urban Planning, Kishlay Singh, citing that the process will begin on Wednesday. It will be led by the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC).
“The state government has decided to change the name of Agra Fort Metro Station to Dr. Ambedkar Chowk Metro Station,” reads the official statement, as reported by abp Live.
The Agra Fort station, an underground station within the city’s metro network, now joins the list of recently renamed stations with this name change. Other stations that have recently undergone name changes include Basai Metro Station, which is now known as Captain Shubham Gupta Metro Station.
The UPMRC has been directed to change all signs and inscriptions to reflect the new name. It is expected that the cost of renaming the Dr. Ambedkar Chowk Metro Station is projected to be Rs 1 lakh, while the government spent approximately Rs 80,000 on renaming other metro stations previously.
The decision to rename the Agra Fort station is in line with ongoing efforts to rename other stations, including the Jama Masjid station, which is soon to be renamed Mankameshwar station.
This development is part of a larger expansion of Agra’s metro system, which will cover a total of 30 km, with six km currently operational. On March 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated six additional stations, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath supervising the launch of metro service at the Taj Mahal station.
CM Yogi Adityanath flagged off the Agra Metro from the Taj Mahal Metro Station, expressing gratitude to PM Modi for selecting Agra as the site for the metro project, reported ABP News.
Reiterating the government’s focus on rapid urban development, including initiatives in the IT sector and infrastructure enhancements, CM Yogi was quoted saying, “With the commencement of the Agra Metro, Uttar Pradesh has achieved the distinction of being the first state in the country to provide metro services in most of its cities.”
