Govt. bringing Metro to a grinding halt

Metro rail shunted to loopline
I Yeddyurappa government transfers BMRCL chief V. Madhu who revived Namma Metro after it stalled for twelve years I
Deccan Chronicle, BENGALURU

The city’s pride and joy, Namma Metro is probably grinding to a halt.

The government’s decision to move V. Madhu out of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation has jolted bureaucratic circles and everyone who backed the project.

The senior IAS officer of 1978 batch has been shunted out despite powering Namma Metro, a project that hadn’t moved an inch for over 12 years until Mr Madhu took it over. The project had attained critical mass within two years of Namma Metro’s rebirth in the hands of the BMRCL chairman.

However, the move by the political heads has only jolted the metro train with fears of more delays in executing the project looming large over the BMRCL.

Mr Madhu, who was at the helm of affairs in New Delhi as joint secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, was summoned by the previous government to take charge of Bengaluru Metro in 2006. And since then, there has been no looking back for this plain-talking bureaucrat who had the uphill task of putting the metro rail project in order.

Mr Madhu can take comfort from the fact that every change of government brings about change. Last time around, it was the head of K.N. Srivastava, which rolled. He was the then BMRTL chief.

After eight months, he was moved out on the pretext of not keeping the government informed about the new logo. Mr Madhu’s removal will mean that Namma Metro, unlike Mr Sreedharan of Delhi Metro, who has an excellent track record as a ‘finisher,’ will not have an experienced hand at the helm. In fact, the Delhi government has hired Mr Sreedharan, with two critical projects — Konakan Railways and Delhi Metro — under his belt, even after his retirement for the completion of the phase 2 of Delhi Metro.

Delhi is serious about its metro. Is Bengaluru? Mr Madhu travelled to over 15 countries, met technical experts across the globe who were engaged in similar projects. He took nearly a year to understand the intricacies involved in the project which requires a high level of expertise to put namma metro on par with other Metro train services in world cities.

He built the organisation from scratch to where it stands today — a 110-people mechanism set up by him that is poised at delivery mode. The big question is not whether the incoming officer will deliver, but what will happen to the expertise acquired by this bureaucrat?

Isn’t there any account ability to crores of rupees of public money spent on preparing him to take on the project?

Doesn’t the change in leadership delay the project further? Do we have the luxury of giving another year to the incoming officer to get himself acquainted to the project? Wasn’t this officer’s track record enough for the government to retain him? Will the political heads answer these questions? It is important for those who affected the transfer to oblige, for Namma Metro cannot afford to stop, when the politicians pull the chain!