Metro Rail awaits a consultant

Metro Rail awaits a consultant
The Times of India

Bangalore: Close to a year after inviting proposals from international consortia, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) is yet to decide on selecting a general consultant.
In October 2005, the BMRC had received proposals from nine international consortia for the title of project general consultant. The company that would be executing the ground work has not been finalised. “The BMRC would be assisted by the general consultant in 28 different disciplines. A decision is pending with the Board, as soon as they approve, we will announce it’’ said V Madhu, BMRC managing director. He was addressing an audience at a talk organised by the Indian Institute of Public Administration in Bangalore on Friday.
Ruling out the delay in appointing the consultant to governmental interference, Madhu said the BMRC had autonomy “to a certain extent and therefore there is no governmental interference.’’ However, the delay in appointing translates to work on the ground not taking off, for want of project advice.
Transport hubs:
Madhu, while making a presentation on the entire project — the routes, costs, rehabilitation — elaborated on the integrated transport hubs that had been planned. There would be five major transport hubs across Bangalore — Byappanahalli, Majestic, Yeshwantpur, Peenya, Swastik — where commuters can hop from a bus onto a Metro Rail. This is how it works — for instance, if a passenger from Kolar were to get off at Byappanahalli, he/she could immediately get onto a Metro Rail 100 mts away. The transport hubs are an integration of KSRTC, BMTC, Metro and Mono Rail systems.
Rehabilitation package:
Seeking to assuage the people who would be losing land to the project, Madhu elaborated on the rehabilitation package. As part of the hardship allowance, citizens would be entitled to six months’ rent, the deposit amount, people losing their shop would be helped in relocating the shops at a BDA complex, apart from the market value that would be given as compensation. An independent committee has been formed to look into the land logistics.
Mono Rail: Though maintaining that Mono Rail would be complementary to the Metro Rail, Madhu said Mono Rail was not as stable as Metro. The routes for Mono Rail had been decided upon — Kanakapura To Mysore Road; Bannerghatta National Park to Adugodi, Bellary Road to Tumkur Road; Jnanabharati to Magadi Road.