Work on BIA rail link from July

Work on BIA rail link from July

Express News ServiceFirst Published : 20 Feb 2010 06:49:39 AM ISTLast Updated : 20 Feb 2010 08:34:53 AM IST
BANGALORE: Running some seven metres above the many magic boxes along the Bellary Road and going underground to duck the electronic systems of the Air Force Station at Yelahanka, it promises a smart chug to the Bengaluru International Air port (BIA). The work on the 34-km High Speed Rail Link (HSRL) to BIA is set to start in July.
According to the Principal Secretary (Infrastructure) V Madhu, the state government on Thursday received the revised draft of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) on HSRL from the the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
Madhu said the government has shortlisted five bidders — consortia led by Tatas, Reliance, L&T, ICM and Lanco.
Taking into account the three months time required for the tender process upon the call for request for qualification (RFQ) and the issue of the work order, the project can be expected to start in July, Madhu said. Quoting DMRC chairperson E Sreedharan, he also said that the project could be operationalised in 32 months after the start of construction.
As per the revised estimate, the HSRL linking MG Road in the city and the BIA will cost Rs 6,000 crore; an earlier estimate had pegged it to be at Rs 5,767 crore.
T h e u n d e rground segment near the Yelahanka Airforce Station is one of the issues leading to the increase in project cost, Madhu said.
B e s i d e s t h e clash of the electrical systems of HSRL with the electronic systems at the Yelahanka Air Force Station, the magic box patches calls for an additional seven metres increase in height (the regular track runs 10 metres above the ground), Madhu explained and said that these issues had been sorted out in the revised DPR. The first DPR was prepared in 2007.
The pending finalisation of BIAL’s plans for its second terminal is also an issue that has been delaying HSRL, Madhu added.

RIDE, CHUG AND FLY
* DPR on the 22 km Express Link connecting Outer Ring Road and BIA to be ready in a month.
* HSRL to carry about one-fifth of the passenger traffic between the city and BIA. It will take you to the airport in 25 minutes but does not promise to ease congestion on road. The National Highways Authority of India has appealed for speeding up the 10-laning of the six-lane NH 7.
* An Airport City within the 10 km radius of BIA to be a subcity of Bangalore. Tourism park, an IT-BT SEZ, a 600-800 acre business centre related exclusively to airport operations and a 312-acre business park will be a part of it.
* 300 mld (million litres per day) is the estimate of water required at the Airport City. Supply by BWSSB alone won’t suffice and the watershed areas development department is already working on the details of rejuvenating and recharging the natural water bodies in the surrounding area.
* BIAL alone will come to employ one lakh people in the next 10 years. West of Chord limits and Hebbal are seen as the residential options for those who will be engaged in airport and airport city. Metro rail and mono rail are the connectivity options.