Residents oppose Metro Rail passing through CMH Road

Residents oppose Metro Rail passing through CMH Road

The Hindu

Want route shifted to Old Madras Road

# 752 pieces of private property will be acquired for Metro Rail
# BMRTL says 22 pieces of private property will be affected on CMH Road
# Residents worried the rail will disrupt normal life and traffic
# BMRTL asked how it will ensure uninterrupted power supply

BANGALORE: Only 22 pieces of private property will be affected by the Metro Rail alignment on CMH Road in Indiranagar. The park at the intersection of CMH Road and 100 feet Road will be converted into a temporary parking area for 400 cars. It will be business as usual for the CMH Road businessmen during daytime. Construction activity will be restricted to six hours from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Reeling out these proposed measures, Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit Limited (BMRTL) Managing Director K.N. Shrivastava tried in vain to convince a group of over 500 residents of Indiranagar, as they argued in tandem on Monday to shift the Metro Rail alignment to Old Madras Road.

While the residents are worried that the rail will disrupt life and traffic on CMH Road, Mr. Shrivastava said, to be patronised by people, it has to be right there on the busy road and not on Old Madras Road, "where for 3.5 kilometres, there would be no catchment. No one would be getting in or out on the defence land and graveyard."

A total of 752 pieces of private property will be acquired for the project, 148 of them on Magadi Road alone. "Where is your 55? Even this could be reduced to 22. The turning radius from CMH Road to 100 ft. Road could also be reduced from 150 ft. to 125 ft.," he said.

Only pillars will be erected on the site while the viaducts will be prefabricated elsewhere. The Delhi Metro project will be the model, where no inconvenience was caused to the public during construction, he said.

Reacting to questions on making the CMH Road alignment underground, Mr. Shrivastava said it will shoot up the project costs. "For underground the cost is Rs. 250 crores a kilometre and for work above the ground, it is only Rs. 75 crores," he said.

For the Indiranagar residents, a Metro Rail aligned on the CMH Road was an invitation to disaster. "A station on this road will have no parking space. Why not have one opposite the BDA shopping complex on Old Madras Road, where there is lot of space," wondered a resident. He also found it strange that the project had its basis on the Mysore Tramsway Act of 1906.

Another resident of Indiranagar 100 feet Road S. Venkatesh cautioned that a Metro Rail on CMH Road would lead to endless litigations, delays and cost overruns.

Fifty-five pieces of private property would be demolished between Adarsha Theatre junction till B.M. Sri Circle. "There is a concentration of destruction here," he said.

Mr. Venkatesh also wanted to know how the BMRTL proposes to ensure uninterrupted power when it relied on Bangalore Electricity Supply Company. "In the underground stages, air has to be pumped in constantly. Have these been envisaged in the project?" he asked. Mr. Shrivastava replied that the project had five power sources each of 400 KW capacity besides emergency power.

The former Chief Secretary and retired chairman of the City Improvement Trust Board Venkatanarayanan traced the history of Indiranagar, which he said was 40 years old.

"Today CMH Road and 100 ft. Road have become the areas lifelines. The Metro Rail project will severely affect these lifelines," he said

The former Karnataka State Hockey player and a resident of the area Kumar felt Old Madras Road could be an alternative route as it is linked to the parallel CMH Road by over 20 cross roads. "That way the destruction could be totally avoided," he said.