Metro project to begin in three months

Metro project to begin in three months

The Hindu


BANGALORE, APRIL 12. Civil works on the first seven km of the Bangalore Metro project — from Byappanahalli to the Chinnaswamy Stadium — are scheduled to commence in three months, and procedures, such as pre-qualification tenders and requisition for land acquisition, are under way.

Making the announcement to presspersons here today, E. Sreedharan, Managing Director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which has prepared the project report, said the seven-km elevated stretch will be the commencement of the first phase of the 33-km project, which has two corridors — East-West (18.1 km) and North-South (14.9 km).

Mr. Sreedharan said the project, which has been cleared by the Cabinet, is awaiting the clearance of the Public Investment Board (PIB), which is scheduled to meet in the last week of April. After it is approved by the PIB, the project proposal will be placed before the Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs.

As these clearances are in the final stages, Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit Limited (BMRTL), which will execute the project, has initiated talks with Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) for the rolling stock, and BEML is said to have tied up with a South Korean company for the manufacture of coaches. The first step will be the creation of a prototype.

Land acquisition

The Managing Director of BMRTL, K.N. Shrivastava, said Rs. 600 crores is required for land acquisition, and in the first year of the project implementation, Rs. 400 crores will be used for this purpose. BMRTL has with it Rs. 230 crores and the State Government has made a budgetary allocation of Rs. 109 crores. The Centre is expected to release Rs. 200 crores. "In the first two years, the expenditure will not be much," he added.

Mr. Shrivastava said sanction letters for about Rs. 1,500 crores from banks in the country have been received, and Rs. 1,500 crore will be provided by a Japanese bank.

He said RITES is expected to submit in the next 10 months a comprehensive transport and traffic survey. After the survey is conducted, BMRTL will formulate plans for the second phase of the project and make a provision for extending the metro to Whitefield, Peenya and other areas.

Traders' worry

On complaints by traders in some areas that the implementation of the project will affect their business, Mr. Shrivastava agreed that there will be some dislocation of trade

However, he said BMRTL will hold a detailed discussion with representatives of traders to allay fears that they will have to close down their establishments.

It is planning a public awareness exercise in which the project details will be made available to the public.