| Catching the Metro at SV Road station, Indiranagar |
| S Praveen Dhaneshkar, Nov 7, DH News Service: |
Are the Metro Stations seamlessly networked with other modes of transport. Can commuters simply park their personal vehicles at these hubs and get on / off the Metro Rail. Deccan Herald takes a look at this critical aspect, while tracking the citizen’s woes due to the project works, stretch by stretch.
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 The second station on the elevated stretch on Reach-1 (Byappanahalli to Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium) of the ‘Namma Metro’ project is located on Old Madras Road / Swami Vivekananda Road, adjacent to the Isolation Hospital.
The station is being constructed close to the entrance of the 100 ft road junction at a cost of approximately Rs 37 crore by a consortium led by IVRCL Infrastructure Projects Ltd. It is expected to cater to the residents of Michael Palya, Defence land and parts of Old Binnamangala and Indiranagar.
A year away from being declared operational, contractors of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) have completed 20 per cent of the construction work at this station.
Like other stations on this Reach, the S V Road station, as it is called, promises to be one where the functional aspects and aesthetics would go together.
This station has been divided into a public and non-public area, with all the amenities incorporated in the Byappanahalli station. To be featured are a station masters office, control room, signalling and communication room, concourse, stairways, escalators, lifts, emergency evacuation exits, toilets, passenger information kiosk's, ticket-counters/dispensing-machines, sky-walk, etc.
The rail level at this station is expected to be around 9.2 meters above ground level.
BMRCL is hoping to provide feeder buses connectivity / integration from Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) to this station, located on the eastern suburb of the City. Vehicle parking facilities will be planned by BMRCL at a later stage after discussions with BBMP and the Bangalore City Traffic Police.
Progress achieved so far
BMRCL has completed all piling works on Reach-1 with piers in place at 200 locations. It has also completed casting of girder segments and pile caps. Meanwhile, works pertaining to construction of boundary wall of the Byappanahalli depot have also been almost completed.
Tenders for design, supply, installation and commissioning of escalators have been awarded to Johnson, while financial evaluation for third rail traction is underway.
The BMRCL has so far taken possession of 697 private properties out of an earmarked 1,106 across all the four reaches and demolished a total of 548 properties.
Metro work mauls 100 ft road stretch
Breezy rides only a memory now
Though very few business establishments exist near the S V Road station, it has in its proximity, lots of vacant defence land, a few saw and timber mills, a slum colony and a few apartment blocks, about a kilometer away.
 Located close to the 100ft Road, in Indiranagar, whose residents use the Old Madras Road for daily commuting, the Metro construction activity has now cut off access to this road. Reason: The girder laying work is currently progressing at the piers, making this entire stretch non-motorable.
Residents in the locality complain that the noise and dust pollution has only increased in the area and made everyone there prone to respiratory diseases, since the metro construction began.
Another problem is the massive diversion of vehicles into the cross roads here by the traffic police, hindering the tranquility and disturbing peace of the neighbourhood.
B N Kumar, advocate and secretary of HAL 3rd Stage residents welfare association put it in perspective when he explained: “Commuting on Old Madras Road is accident prone. The BMRCL construction site is too close to the road. More barricades need to be put up. The road is also very poorly lit and has too many potholes. Two wheelers riders are sure to have a fall during rains. The civic authorities have turned a blind eye to all the problems faced by regular users of this road.”
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