Another skywalk at Baiyappanahalli soon
N Sivasailam, Managing Director of BMRCL, said on Saturday that the Railways would clear the second skywalk at the Baiyappanahalli Metro station in the coming week.
He was speaking to members of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI).
Sivasailam termed the non-issuance of a No Objection Certificate by Railways for the underground construction work on railway land as a ‘minor hiccup’.
With the Ministry of Railways giving the green signal for the 66-metre work, crossing a railway line near Srirampura, much of the work on Reach 3 is complete. BMRCL is concentrating on Metro works in the northern parts of Bangalore, he said. The Corporation hopes to have possession of new coaches at its Peenya depot by the end of December, so that test runs can start on a 1.2-km track by mid-2012.
Sivasailam said he planned to do up the space between medians in Reach One with horticulture work.
“No two stations will look or feel the same at least in design and colour,” he said.
The matter regarding Integrated Traffic Management Centre at Kempegowda bus station will be taken up before the High Power Committee on December 9, he said.
Regarding ongoing underground works, the tunnel boring machine is set to reach Central College early January, Sivasailam said.
High Speed Rail Link
The BMRCL, which was asked by the State government to take up the High Speed Rail Link (HSRL) connecting Bengaluru International Airport to MG Road is set to place the matter before the board at its next meeting. “The funding proposal needs to be approved by the Union Ministry and we are at the stage of getting Request for Proposal,” he said.
Media-unfriendly
BMRCL is seen by many as a fortress when it comes to providing information to the media. On Saturday, Sivasailam gave credence to that feeling when he stamped on a question from a pressperson and said: “The press is only meant to listen and not ask questions.”
During the first few minutes of his speech, Sivasailam heaped much praise on the media for providing support to the project. As soon as his presentation ended, FKCCI members were made to ask questions, as if in a rehearsed manner, and no mediaperson was allowed to put forth any doubts. Troubling questions from a few outsiders were also ridiculed.
