Promenade on Mahatma Gandhi Road to be remodelled

Promenade on Mahatma Gandhi Road to be remodelled

The Hindu

It is to make the Metro Rail track safe: BMRCL

BANGALORE: May be you should now walk to your heart's content on one of Bangalore's most scenic stretches — the promenade on Mahatma Gandhi Road.

For, this lovely walkway will lose much of its height soon to make the Metro Rail safe as the columns of the viaduct will be located on its slope.

Once the construction is over, those using the promenade, the venue of countless quiet communions as well as lovers' trysts, will have to put up with the rumble of metro trains running in the east and west directions on dedicated lines not too far above their heads.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) Managing Director V. Madhu told The Hindu that the promenade would be remodelled keeping in mind the safety of those who use it when the viaduct is ready.

Safety requirement

One of the important safety requirements is to allow the movement of fire engines under the viaduct, which is not possible if the height of the promenade is kept at the present level, he said.

Mr. Madhu promised that the drawings of the remodelled promenade would be soon put on BMRCL's website, http://bmrc.co.in, and the public can give their suggestions considering there are "emotional issues involved".

The metro trains are expected to run on the viaduct from April 2010.

Work on the viaduct from the Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium to Byappanahalli is expected to start on April 15. The BMRCL had submitted a traffic diversion plan to the police, which is studying it. The public will be apprised of it in advance.

The contractor for the 7-km viaduct, Navayuga Engineering Co. (India), is expected to start the work simultaneously on three stretches — Mahatma Gandhi Road, Vivekananda Road and Old Madras Road. The company, which has bagged the work for Rs. 115 crore, has been given 27 months from January 2007 to complete it. BMRCL would need almost a year thereafter to run the trains.

The State Government has so far given Rs. 410 crore for the Rs. 6,400-crore Metro Rail project. The Union Government has given Rs. 178 crore to the 38-km network project to be fully operational by the end of 2011. The two Governments, which are partners in the project, are committed to give Rs. 3,600 crore over five years. BMRCL has plans to spend nearly Rs. 800 crore a year. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has offered low-interest loans of about Rs. 1,800 crore.