Public consultation for Gottigere-Nagawara line an eyewash

It appears that BMRCL has not held discussions with public for its Gottigere-Nagawara line as most of the 70 people who took part in the ‘public consultation’ were stakeholders losing their property.

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) on Wednesday released the Environment Assessment Report which gives a list of 17 individuals who appeared in the ‘public consultation’. The line is expected to carry 4.03 lakh people a day once it is commissioned in 2021.

Two persons who took part in the consultation said there were 200 persons in the consultation held over two months ago and most of them were people losing land.

“More than a consultation, it was briefing. Almost all of us were people giving our land. We urged BMRCL to take over compensation distribution from Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board,” said Chethan P, who participated in the event.

Naresh Agarwal said officials did not answer any questions. “They just read out lines from some documents projected on a screen,” he said.

This goes against the claims by BMRCL, which describes public consultation/information as “an integral part of the BMRCL project cycle”. “Public consultations with the people of different sections of the society along the project alignment, shopkeepers, and influential persons of the project area were made,” the corporation claims in the document.

Rajkumar Dugar, a resident of Vasanthnagar protesting against shifting of Cantonment Metro station, said, "For a line that will carry four lakh people every day, BMRCL has consulted 70 people. We can’t understand how they call it public consultation,” he said.

Activist Sanjeev Dyamannavar said building a transportation facility for public without taking their opinion would be of no use. “Different sections of people are protesting against changing the location of the Cantonment Metro station. At least now, the BMRCL should consider their opinion,” he said. He said no one was informed about the 'public consultation'.

BMRCL officials could not be reached for comment.