Rail link to BIA may go off track

Rail link to BIA may go off track
B S Arun,Ajith Athrady,DH News Service,New Delhi:
The proposed high-speed rail link connecting Bangalore City with the new international airport at Devanahalli may not become a reality at least until 2013, as the Yeddyurappa government has a rethink on the planned route for the fast-track.

According to well-placed sources in the government, the Yeddyurappa Cabinet, at its next meeting, may take a decision on dropping the planned high-speed track from the BRV Parade Ground to the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) via Windsor Manor and Mekhri Circle. The government is understood to be in favour of an alternative route to connect the City with the airport.

A top official in the Union urban development ministry, when asked about the State government’s rethink on the route, expressed surprise and said such a move would push back the airport link by at least two years as the entire exercise would have to start from the scratch. The Union ministry has been monitoring the BRV-BIA project.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation had prepared a detailed project report on the BRV-BIA rail link that was considered and accepted by the State government. As per the report, the project was to be completed by January 2011 and the Karnataka State Industrial Investment Corporation was appointed the nodal agency to handle the project.

A proposal for scrapping the BRV-BIA line is understood to have figured at a meeting of the Cabinet last week. Instead, the Cabinet is said to be in favour of considering an alternative route to the international airport from Byappanahalli, located in Bangalore East.

According to sources, the Infrastructure Development department and the Agenda for Bangalore Infrastructure Development have been asked to suggest alternatives besides links from different parts of the City to Byappanahalli.

The government has decided to all but scrap the BRV-BIA project for two reasons: high cost and the engineering difficulties in executing the work. The project is likely to cost around Rs 7000 by the time of its completion. Second, since it will have to pass through Windsor Manor bridge, Mekhri Circle and Hebbal flyover, the construction would face practical difficulties leading to further cost escalation.

The congested location of BRV is seen as posing serious traffic and parking problems.

The BRV-BIA project has already passed several stages like preparation of the detailed project report, its acceptance by the government, calling for an expression of interest, the State proposing viability gap funding from the Centre and Planning Commission scrutinising if the project could be executed under public-private partnership. With the rethink, it is likely that the old proposal of connecting the Byappanahalli to the airport through elevated metro network will be revisited.

Project to cost less

The Byappanahalli-BIA link would cost less and poses fewer hurdles from an engineering point of view.
The government also proposes to make Byappanahalli a transport hub, having KSRTC, BMTC and Metro stations. This seems to the government’s argument in favour of the rethink.