Change Metro track, insists Indiranagar

Change Metro track, insists Indiranagar
The Times of India

Bangalore: It is about their bread and butter that residents of CMH Road are fighting for. While they are wholeheartedly supporting the Bangalore Metro Rail project, their plea is that they would stand to lose their livelihood if the shops they run are brought down because of the Metro Rail system.

At an interactive session held at Indiranagar on Monday, the residents repeated what they have been saying: change the alignment of the Metro Rail from CMH Road to go on to the Old Madras Road.

The CMH Road Shops and Establishments Association said the interactive meeting was to arrive at a solution or to have a meaningful discussion. "But the officials said nothing new.''

During the interaction, the Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit Limited (BMRTL) managing director K.N. Shrivastava made a presentation on how beautiful the system will look, but residents objected saying BMRTL should have shown the inconvenience that it will cause to the locality. The residents questioned if the roads were wide enough to undertake such a project.

The association members said that all residents in Indiranagar should have been invited. VIPs like Pramila Nesargi, who is leading this agitation, Ramesh Kumar, MLA and former speaker, some senior advocates, former ministers J. Alexander and T. John were not invited for the programme.

Nesargi has written a letter to chief minister N. Dharam Singh stating that she was not invited for the interactive meeting. Her contention was that the proposal of Metro Rail going through CMH Road involves a lot of destruction and stopping it will save the government over Rs 400 crore. "The meeting held by BMRTL is unwarranted and a sheer formality to show that the citizen-interaction meeting was held.''

Not just VIPs like Nesargi, even the traders were not happy. The traders said while owners of the buildings may agree for demolition, no one is giving a thought to the tenants, who have paid huge sums as advance to run their businesses from these addresses. "Tenants and employees will be on the streets. What about our rehabilitation,'' they asked. "The traders contribute to the government exchequer a sizeable amount by way of property tax, wealth tax, VAT etc. And this is the way the government treats us,'' they said. "Why destroy an already developed infrastructure to create a new one?''

Terming the meeting an eyewash, the residents said: "The very purpose of the meeting was defeated.'' The residents have planned a dharna at BMRTL demanding that the route be changed. They will meet the CM and plead their case.