Namma Metro to acquire 1 more acre of private land for Pink Line

Namma Metro is acquiring another 45,000 square feet of private land in Nagawara for building a receiving substation under Phase 2.

A preliminary notification to this effect was issued in the government gazette recently. The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB), which will acquire the land on behalf of Namma Metro, subsequently issued a public notice.

The KIADB will acquire three land parcels measuring 4,182.63 square metres (45,021.45 sq ft) in Nagawara village, Kasaba hobli.

Two of these properties — 2.762.93 sq mt — are owned by a private real estate firm while the third (1,419.7 sq mt) belongs to a private individual.

Enquiries with regard to the land acquisition will take place on January 17, 2023.

Anjum Parwez, Managing Director, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited, said that while Phase 2 land acquisition was almost complete, a few new requirements might have risen.

B L Yashavant Chavan, Chief Public Relations Officer, BMRCL, said that the land was required for building a receiving station.

The substation will power the 21.25-km Nagawara-Kalena Agrahara metro line (Reach 6), of which 13.79 km will run underground. A 25kV AC overhead equipment system will power trains on this complex line. The line will have another receiving substation at Hulimavu, Bannerghatta Road.

This land is in addition to the 1,46,406 sq mt that the BMRCL has already acquired for building metro stations and viaducts on Reach 6. Another 1,24,044 sq mt, or 99.54 per cent of the total land requirement, has been procured for the Kothanur depot.

Reach 6 (Pink Line) has been the most complex to build. It will pass through areas like MG Road before moving northward and intersecting with the Silk Board airport line.

Tenders first called in 2017 had to be cancelled because of the high quotations. The BMRCL considered reducing the underground section but eventually stuck to the original plan.

As of November 30, civil works on different sections of this line are between 35.85 per cent and 75.82 per cent complete. The Kothanur depot is 29.1 per cent complete. The Pink Line is expected to open only in 2024, four years later than the original deadline.