Metro rail: survey in Malleswaram shelved

Metro rail: survey in Malleswaram shelved

The Hindu

This follows protests over property acquisition

BANGALORE: The survey to identify the properties to be acquired on Mahakavi Kuvempu Road in Malleswaram for the proposed Rs. 6,300-crore metro rail project has been suspended.

This follows a direction from the office of the Chief Minister to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) to put on hold the process of acquisition of about 150 properties on the road.

Traders and residents of the area had opposed the acquisition. Pramila Nesargi, former legislator, who led them, had submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister suggesting that the Government should go for monorail to avoid the acquisition.

The metro rail project received an impetus after Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy travelled by Delhi metro rail and stressed the need for similar service in Bangalore.

The letter received from his office by the BMRCL says that the acquisition should be put on hold till he (the Chief Minister) visits the areas and takes a decision in this regard, according to sources.

Following the letter, the BMRCL wrote to the Deputy Director, Survey Department, who is coordinating the survey of properties. In all, eight teams of officials comprising representatives from the Survey Department, Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board and Rail India, are conducting the survey. One of the teams was conducting survey on Kuvempu Road.

The BMRCL is acquiring as many as 621 properties on the entire stretch of 33 km for laying metro rail track and building stations. This includes 150 properties on Kuvempu Road and 55 on CMH Road. Already, the work of acquisition on CMH Road has been put on hold following protests from traders there. A committee has been constituted.