Government yet to decide on metro rail alignment

Government yet to decide on metro rail alignment

The Hindu

Manmohan Singh to inaugurate project work on Saturday

# BMRC says the Government is seized of the matter
# Says decision on alignment can be taken just before the start of civil work
# Traders on CMH Road want the metro line to pass along the Old Madras Road

BANGALORE: The State Government is yet to take a decision on the final alignment of the Byappanahalli-Mahatma Gandhi Road section of the proposed Rs. 6,300-crore Bangalore Metro Rail, work on which is being inaugurated on Saturday by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

But Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRC) said the Government was seized of the matter. BMRC Managing Director V. Madhu told The Hindu that he had broached the matter with the Government and it was expected to take a decision on the final alignment of Metro Rail soon. The decision could be taken after the inauguration and much before the civil works begin. The delay in taking this decision would not affect the progress of the work, Mr. Madhu said.

The Government was expected to take a decision as a package — alignments at Chinmaya Mission Hospital Road, Mahakavi Kuvempu Road and at South End Circle. He said there was a lot of time between the inauguration of the project and the beginning of the civil work on the main bridge. Shifting the utility lines was the priority and this work on the sections where there was no dispute over alignment of the project would be taken up immediately. There was a lot of preliminary work related to final awarding of the contract to build the bridge for the elevated 7 km section from Byappanahalli to Mahatma Gandhi Road such as appointment of consultants.

The traders on C.M.H. Road had been demanding that the project should come up along Old Madras Road so that their properties on C.M.H. Road remained intact. They had argued that taking the metro rail track through the busy road would result in unwanted rehabilitation. The Old Madras Road did not have many private properties and aligning the project on this road would be ideal.

They pointed out that the original alignment of the project ran through this road. The traders on Mahakavi Kuvempu Road had demanded change in the alignment to avoid large-scale rehabilitation. The State Government had appointed a committee headed by Justice Shivashankar Bhat to enquire into their demands. It had submitted its report to the Government.

Mr. Madhu said BMRC had submitted the final set of recommendations to the Government on rehabilitation package. The Government could announce a decision on this soon.