Infrastructure Index: Metro

METRO RAIL On track, but yet to take off
The Times of India

Bangalore: It will soon be two months now since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone for the 33 km Bangalore Metro Rail project. Actual construction work is yet to begin. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) is now working on the procedures to get the project started.

Finally, the Kumaraswamy government cleared the alignment along CMH Road and Mahakavi Kuvempu Road accepting the Justice Shivshankar Bhat committee report in toto. With this clearance, the BMRC has now got the mandate to go ahead with acquisition of 28 acres of private land required for the project. The land acquisition process, if it goes off smoothly, will take about three months after the final notification is issued, expected to be done by next week.

The government has drawn up a huge compensation package for those who will be losing their property/business. BMRC will be calling the affected parties and discussing with them the nitty-gritty. Also, the government has decided that the compensation will be disbursed on the spot, instead of making the affected people wait for the completion of the process.

The BMRC team led by managing director V Madhu held talks on Monday and Tuesday with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to sort out the final nitty-gritty for the Rs 1,800 crore loan being extended for the Rs 6,395 crore project.

Another task at hand for the BMRC is now to finalise the general consultants for the project from among five of the nine international consortia shortlisted after expression of interests were submitted.

The Karnataka government will also have to decide if it would appoint the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), who prepared the entire draft proposal for the Bangalore Metro Rail, as prime consultants. Once the general consultants are appointed, the BMRC will then have to call for tenders to appoint contractors for the different packages for the two-corridor project. While the construction of the 7 km link between Byapanahalli and cricket stadium via M G Road will be undertaken by Rail India Techno and Economic Services (RITES), the remaining contracts will be awared through tenders and this process is expected to start in October this year.

PROJECT COMPLETION: Five years from date of commencement of physical work of the project.