BMRC update

NAMMA METRO
Slow, yet steady
Thirty-three out of 151 — that’s the number of milestones reached of the Namma Metro in its first phase. Reach 1 — the stretch between Byappanahalli and the KSCA stadium — of the Rs 6,395-crore project is now looking at completion by December 2010.
The detailed design consultancy (DDC) award for elevated stations in three reaches has been finalized. Geo-hydraulic studies as well as noise and vibration studies have been awarded, apart from the DDC for electric traction.
The award for station works in the first
and second packages of Reach 1 is among the 23 milestones in the process of being achieved. The four major milestones that the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRC) has targeted for the coming months are award of work for construction of apartments, award of construction of package 2 works for the Byappanahalli depot, award of package 3 stations in Reach 1 and award of road-widening work in Reach 4.
Issues over land acquisition, compensation packages and contractual stipulations have pulled down the project’s pace. Of the 138 acres of central government land that the project requires, 10 acres are still at the purchase stage. Four acres of land belonging to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited are under transfer, while acquisition for the remaining six acres is also on.
BMRC says the project is behind schedule by nine months. The pace, though, will pick up, assures its new MD N Sivasailam. The BMRC is also exploring the potential of partnering business establishments in the state in the stations’ commercial spaces.