Namma Metro will zip silently

Namma Metro will zip silently

Chief minister BS Yeddyurappa visited the Namma Metro work site on MG Road, climbed up to the viaduct along Reach 1 stretching from MG Road to Byappanahalli, and came convinced that the train would indeed chug on by December 2010 as scheduled, reports Shwetha S

Shwetha S



The project, which has been making so much noise pre and post launch, will run almost noiselessly, once commissioned. The mass transit system's silent potential emerged during chief minister BS Yeddyurappa's morning date with Namma Metro construction work on Friday.
Yeddyurappa inspected the Metro's Reach 1 (MG Road to Byappanahalli). He said the stretch would be completed and commissioned by December 2010. "About 75% of the work is complete," he said.
During the inspection of the work on MG Road, engineers from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) informed Yeddyurappa that the metro would run on a "special cushion that would reduce noise during the operations".
An engineer said, "The width of cushion and viaduct acoustics would also be adjusted such that the train won't make much noise as there are schools, colleges and hospitals along the path".
CCTV cameras will be installed on platforms and in coaches and parking areas. "Some areas under the pillar will be used for vegetation, and rainwater harvesting will also be introduced at the stations," another engineer said.
Detailing the status of the construction work on the terminals, BMRCL director (project and planning) BS Sudhir Chandra said that 65 % of the work at the Byappanahalli station had been completed. "In one portion of the terminal, we have already started laying tiles," he said.
Byappanahalli will be the biggest terminal that can accommodate about 1,800 cars in the parking lot. For the benefit of the chief minister, Sudhir disclosed some more statistical achievements by the project promoters: 71% of the work on the viaduct (the elevated part of construction) along Reach 1 had been completed, 50% of the work on six stations was over and 60% work had been finished at the depots.
Yeddyurappa said that the area below the viaduct on the Swamy Vivekananda Road would be utilised for activities like rural santhe and chitra santhe. "The total cost of civil contract for viaduct is about Rs160 crore, six stations cost about Rs250 crore and depots about Rs175 crore," he said.