Stop this meaningless junket, get the Metro Rail moving

Stop this meaningless junket, get the Metro Rail moving
H S Balram
The Times of India

Bangalore badly needs an urban mass rapid transport system. No two opinions about it. And the consensus is that it should be the Metro Rail. The discussions are over, the paperwork complete and the route map is ready. Funding pattern has been finalised. All clearances have been obtained. The foundation stone has been laid. And a Mono Rail as feeder service has also been decided. But when will the work begin? No one knows. Instead, a group of bureaucrats is set to go on a 10-day trip to China, Malaysia and Thailand to study the functioning of the Metro and Mono Rail systems there. The trip is at the taxpayers’ expense. After The Times of India exposed this wasteful exercise, the CM ordered that three bureaucrats not directly connected with the project to opt out of this trip.
What’s the need for such a visit? What do they want to study? Hasn’t a detailed study been done already? Shouldn’t these bureaucrats be sitting in Bangalore, putting their heads together to discuss ways to get the project moving? Shouldn’t they begin acquiring land for it? Hasn’t the project been delayed for too long, thanks to hurdles by vested interests? Whose brilliant idea was it to send these worthies on a meaningless junket? Doesn’t it remind us of Nero who fiddled when Rome burnt?
Bangalore is gasping for breath as its narrow roads are chock-a-block with vehicles. Traffic moves at snail’s pace. Lane driving is absent. Space for parking is inadequate. Road rage is increasing. The need of the hour is a fast underground/overhead rail system which can take thousands of commuters from one end of the city to another within minutes. With a Mono Rail and BMTC buses ferrying people to and from metro stations, the presence of autorickshaws and two-wheelers on roads will reduce automatically. Roads on stilts in heavy traffic zones will reduce the congestion further.
Isn’t it sad that those in authority are not showing the urgency needed in pursuing infrastructure projects? Every project is politicised. Decisions taken by a previous government are deliberately put on hold and a witchhunt is launched. In the name of studies, politicians and officials go on trips across the globe. Maybe they come back enlightened, but make no effort to implement what they have seen. Delays push the cost of projects. It happened in the case of the Bangalore international airport. The Metro Rail appears to be on the same track.
Take the recently concluded AKKA meeting in the US. It was meant to propagate Kannada and Kannada literature. Legislators went in droves, Expect for a few who attended all the sessions, others made it a fun trip. They spent all the time sight-seeing. They, however, ensured marking attendance. And they didn’t miss the sumptuous lunch and dinner at the venue. What is the purpose of such visits? Won’t their image in the eyes of the public, who have elected them, take a beating?
The government must put a stop to these fun trips at the cost of public money. For study tours, send only those who matter. Send engineers to study Metro Rail operations in various cities. Send young men and women among Kannadigas in various fields for the AKKA meet. They will return with ideas that can be implemented.