BMRCL agrees to shift Metro depot away from elephant corridor

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) has decided to shift the proposed depot off Kanakapura road after the Forest Department objected to its location saying it was part of the elephant corridor.

BMRCL managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola said: “We will locate the depot where it does not create problems. We are discussing this with the government and will find a solution very soon.”

The row over the Metro’s depot came to the fore on May 7, when wild elephants killed two CRPF men at Taralu village near Bannerghatta National Park.

Forest officials felt the man-animal conflict will escalate if the land between the Tataguni Estate owned by the Roerich & Devika Rani Estate Board and the CRPF camp, a crucial elephant corridor, is given to BMRCL.

As BMRCL stuck to its position, forest officials took the matter to the government. Chief Secretary Subhash Chandra Khuntia intervened and, on Thursday evening, visited the spot with forest and BMRCL officials.

“The chief secretary agreed that the place chosen by BMRCL was a narrow elephant corridor. Any escalation in the man-animal conflict will directly affect people in the nearby villages. Following Khuntia’s observation, BMRCL officials agreed in principle to consider another area for building the depot,” senior forest officials said.

The chief secretary directed the Metro to be sensitive towards the environment and change their alignment.

He also said that after the Roerich & Devika Rani Estate Board agrees, and the Metro board passes a resolution, the state government will send a letter to the Supreme Court seeking its clearance to construct the depot in the wildlife sensitive area.

Forest officials said permission from the Supreme Court was necessary as the court had set specific rules for use of the land in the estate area.