500 m, 5 levels separate MG Rd's purple, red line metro stations

By going overground on MG Road, the Namma Metro purple line destroyed the aesthetics of Bengaluru's iconic street.

That unilateral decision is about to create another problem: passengers will be forced to walk at least 500 metres to take the underground Gottigere-Nagawara line that crosses the purple line.

The tough integration challenge would mean a design that compels commuters to cross at least five levels at the MG Road interchange station unlike two levels at Majestic. Urban mobility experts are convinced that an underground purple line would have ensured seamless integration. But for that, the Metro authorities had to take a 50-75 year vision which they lacked.

To justify the pillars that destroyed the old boulevard and the road's green heritage forever, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) had a rationale: That the per kilometre cost of an underground option was 2.5 times higher than that of the overground line.

But a full economic cost analysis, as civic evangelist V Ravichander puts it, would show the underground option actually works out cheaper in the long run. He explains: "The BMRCL would have saved about Rs 1,100 crore on the 5.5-km Baiyappanahalli-MG Road stretch. However, an underground stretch would save more from  lower real estate footprint and by allowing for interchanges at a future date."

In big cities across the world, the Metro is never taken overground within a radius of 5-8 km of the central area. "The decision not to do so in Bengaluru was super short-sighted. You need a 100-year outlook. It is not a bus route that you can change later," notes Ravichander.

The Metro authorities had also cited rocks and turning radius issues while opting out of tunnelling under MG Road. But unlike overground, where the pillars have to follow the road geometry, turning radius should not be an issue at all underground, reason experts.

For the acclaimed architect, the late Charles Correa, taking the Metro overground was a loss that the city will take another hundred years to recover from.

All those gathered to hear him say this at the Indian Institute of Science seven years ago could only sigh, as the pillars dug deep into the MG Road boulevard.