BMRCL hopes to get back on track in a week

BMRCL hopes to get back on track in a week
Friday August 15 2008 04:17 IST

Hemanth & Monica Jha | ENS

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Traffic jam on M G Road in Bangalore on Monday.

BANGALORE: Namma Metro is said to be getting back on track with project work on the CMH road stretch expected to start in a week.

The CMH Road stretch, connecting Indiranagar and Ulsoor, has been a stumbling block for the project’s progress due to litigations filed. Officials at the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), the implementing agency for the muchdelayed Rs 6,395 crore metro project, told the Express that the work on CMH road will begin in a week.

The CMH Road Shops and Establishments Association and residents of the locality had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court seeking re-alignment of the project, hindering it since 2006.

The metro rail project, according to BMRCL, has been delayed by nine months mainly due to the litigations. "Some major changes are expected in the following week and we hope to make some headway in the project," said BMRCL officials.

Property owners on CMH Road are yet to give up their holdings that fall on the present alignment, but work on the stretch connecting 100 ft road in Indiranagar with Old Madras Road has already begun.

The officials are also confident that litigations over other properties too will be resolved. Plaza theatre on MG Road, which has been notified for housing a metro station is also under litigation.

However, senior advocate Pramila Nesargi, who challenged the project on legal grounds and suggested that the project on CMH Road be re-aligned, said: "BMRCL is carrying out some basic work on CMH Road. But they are doing it at their own risk, as the matter is still sub-judice and the next hearing is slated to be held on July 16."

President of the CMH Road Shopkeepers and Traders Association Imtiaz Ahmed said that BMRCL considers it to be a trivial issue. He added that the Association would protest if BMRCL starts any work.