Metro rail: plan to drop one station on CMH Road

Metro rail: plan to drop one station on CMH Road

The Hindu

`Reach 1' to have seven stations instead of eight

# Final design of the seven stations to be ready by January
# Work of shifting of underground utility lines to start on October 2


BANGALORE: The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) Limited has come out with a compromise proposal in response to the objections raised by businessmen and residents of CMH Road and surrounding areas.

Among others, it has proposed one station instead of two as earlier planned.

The removal of one station (on Indiranagar 100-foot Road) has been made possible by reworking the location of another station on that stretch. The station near Bata showroom will now come up near Arya Samaj.

With this, the "Reach 1" of the project will have seven stations instead of eight. They are: Cricket Stadium, M.G. Road (Brigade Road junction), Trinity Circle, Ulsoor, Arya Samaj (CMH Road), Old Madras Road and Byappanahalli.

BMRC Managing Director V. Madhu told The Hindu that this was in conformity with the recommendations of the Justice Shivashankar Bhat Committee. The committee was constituted to look into the objections from the traders to the project, particularly those who have shops on CMH Road.

The BMRC had awarded the work of evolving the final design of the seven stations to Rail India Technical and Economic Services Limited (RITES).

The designs, to be ready by January, would show the lung spaces to be allowed in and around the stations, the parking area, evacuation and frequency of commuters and ticketing area, among other things.

The BMRC has short-listed contractors for the seven-km viaduct (bridge) in the Reach 1. The BMRC is to award the contract for the construction of the bridge by November and the work is to start from December.

Utility lines

The work of shifting of underground utility lines would start on October 2, Mr. Madhu said. The permission from Bangalore Mahanagara Palike for digging on Mahatma Gandhi Road was expected to come by September 15.

The contract to shift underground lines of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company has been awarded. The letter of intent has been issued to a contractor for shifting KPTCL lines.

The BMRC has deposited money with BSNL to shift its lines. The estimates for shifting BWSSB lines are ready and work is yet to be awarded.

The BMRC has awarded the work of geotechnical investigations in the remaining 26 km of the metro network to RITES. This means the agency will test the soil wherever the land is to be dug up for erecting pillars to support the proposed bridges and to have underground rail network. This will help the BMRC to design the civil structures.

The Metro will go underground in crowded areas such as Majestic, K.R. Market, Avenue Road and eco-sensitive Cubbon Park. Elsewhere it will move on elevated structures.

The other corridor of the Rs. 6,400-crore 33-km project runs from Yeshwnathpur to R.V. Road end. It is called the North-South corridor.