Bangalore Metro

Prime Minister

March 2016 is the new deadline for completing all land acquisition for Phase-II of the project; PMO has also sought monthly updates from BMRCLTaking a tough stance on the delays in the metro rail project byRail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), the’s Office (PMO) has now set a deadline directing BMRCL to complete the land acquisition process for Phase-II of the project by March 2016. It has also directed BMRCL to submit updates on the progress of land acquisition on a monthly basis.This action from the PMO follows BMRCL setting new deadlines for metro operations and missing those deadlines on a regular basis. For instance, the BMRCL had fixed December 2015 as deadline for commercial operations of all the reaches of Phase-I; but subsequently, the deadline was extended till March 2016 citing inordinate delays in tunneling works of north-south corridor due to the tough terrain and tendering of metro intersection at Majestic.The state government had given its approval for the Phase-II of metro project in the year 2010 and the Union cabinet too gave its final nod in January last year.The Phase-II project of Namma Metro (having a distance of 72 km) is crucial for Bengaluru for various reasons especially because it would be for the first time that metro will connect with the IT corridors of the city — Whitefield and Electronic City. In addition to this, there is also a proposal to connect the metro with Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) by extending the alignment from Nagawara.Therefore, it is not without reason that the PMO is now setting deadlines.A BMRCL official said, “The prime minister’s office is monitoring the status of major projects across the country — especially the big projects like Metro. In the state, PM’s office closely monitors two major projects like Metro in Bengaluru and the super critical thermal power project at Kudgi near Bijapur. A few months ago, the prime minister himself interacted with the higher-ups to know the status of the metro project. As there are instructions from the higher-ups, we are taking all possible measures to speed up the land acquisition for the project under Phase-II. On some reaches like Mysore Road, we are already in process of coming out with the final notification.”Under the phase II, the BMRCL has asked the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) to come out with a final notification for acquisition of properties on Mysore Road and some stretch on Kanakapura Road. The BMRCL has already called tenders for the extending the metro on Mysore Road. In other prominent stretches like KR Puram and Whitefield, measures have been taken to issue to preliminary notifications.The property identification and survey is going on at a good pace for the acquisition of properties between RV Road and Bommasandra.The property identification has been done on elevation stretch of IIMB-Nagawara stretch till the Dairy circle. The list of the properties identified for extending the metro till Bangalore International Exhibition Center (BIEC) has already been sent to the KIADB.The official said, “There are various challenges for acquisition of the lands for the Phase-II project. In addition to land for elevated structure, metro stations and underground stations, many acres of the land is required for the construction of metro at four points: They are Kothnur, Challaghatta, Hebbagodi and Anjanapura. The land required is anywhere between 25 acres to 35 acres.” To build the metro line, the BMRCL has already identified over 1,000 properties for the acquisition and majority of the land required is on the IIMB — Nagawara stretch — 7.41 lakh square metres of the land.