THE Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC) is going to do a detailed study for starting the metro rail project in the cities of Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. The work on the project is likely to start within a year, with the basic data already been provided by the Railway Institute of Technology & Engineering Services. A decision to this effect was taken in a meeting between the DMRC managing director E Shreedharan and the SAD working president Sukhbir Singh Badal in New Delhi on Monday. A team of DMRC experts would conduct a survey within 4 to 6 months for Ludhiana. The DMRC would send a proposal in this regard for the approval of the state government in the next few days. Giving details of this project Mr.Shreedharan said that the Ludhiana metro rail alone would have a daily capacity of 4.8 lakh passengers. He said that the project would cost Rs 80-90 crore per km. An underground metro would be constructed to cover the old city section. While advocating a strong need for establishing metro in Ludhiana, Mr Badal said that the hub of Indian hosiery was today facing a great hardship due to traffic congestion and inadequate road network. He also informed that despite having a good connectivity by road, rail and air, Ludhiana badly needed metro rail to avoid increasing air pollution in the city. He also added that the metro would also help decrease the congestion in Amritsar, a holy city having a population of 10,11,327 as per a study conducted in 2001. He said that the system could also facilitate the pilgrims.