Metro Rail on a shaky track

Metro Rail on a shaky track
By P M Raghunandan,DH News Service,Bangalore:
After land, its now old buildings that have apparently come in the way of speedy implementation of Namma Metro....

After land, it’s now old buildings that have apparently come in the way of speedy implementation of Namma Metro.

Namma Metro is proposed to pass through 33-km of stretch in the City which includes some of the old areas like Chickpet, K R Market, Mysore Road, Magadi Road, Old Madras Road and others.

A daunting task before the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) is to ensure the safety of the old and weak buildings, which may come crumbling down as a result of the drilling work.

The Corporation will have to dig up the areas falling in the Metro stretch, up to 50 ft deep, to put up piers, using heavy-duty machines
.
It will also burrow into the earth to build tunnels in some areas, adversely affecting several old buildings there.
According to BMRC Managing Director V Madhu, around 1,200 piers of 1.2 meter diameter will have to be put up for every seven-km stretch of metro rail.

“We are concerned about the old buildings as tunnelling and drilling will create a lot of vibration, and may even lead to collapse of weak and old buildings in the region,” he added.

Detailed study
“We do not want to take any chance in this regard. Hence, we have asked the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to conduct a detailed study of Geology along the Metro rail route, especially in the congested residential areas. Based on the study findings and recommendation, we will take appropriate steps,” he said.

Official sources said that the project implementation may be delayed if the IISc recommends BMRC to strengthen several of these buildings before taking up the work.

“There are hundreds of old residential and commercial along the Metro route. If they have to be strengthened, BMRC will have to chalk out a separate project for this purpose. It will not only be time-consuming, but uneconomical also,” sources pointed out.

Mr Madhu, however, said that Environmental Impact Study done by Bangalore University has already said that there won’t be any problem.

“The study is being conducted to get the expert view from IISc. I hope there will not be any problem,” he stated.
And it’s not just the buildings which may be affected by Metro. The study conducted by Prof Shekhar Mudlu of Department of Civil Engineering, IISc, is also finding out whether the drilling work will affect water veins (that recharges ground water) and rock formation inside the earth, Mr Madhu said.

A group of environmentalists suggested to investigate the impact of drilling work on water veins. Because any damage to water veins will badly affect the underground water table, he added.

HIGHLIGHTS

*IISc to find out impact of drilling old buildings.
*BMRC concerned over old buildings.
*Train passes via many old areas
nBMRC to take steps based on
findings