Don't start work on airport metro, use funds for health instead, says head of research organisation

The head of a voluntary research and advocacy organisation has urged the BMRCL not to start any work on the Silk Board-KR Puram-airport metro corridor and divert the resources to improve health infrastructure instead.

In a letter to BMRCL Managing Director Rakesh Singh, Sandhya Balasubramanian stated that the Centre’s decision to approve the project on April 21, amid a raging pandemic, was baffling due to its “misplaced priority”.

Listing the major problems being faced by the city, the state and the Centre, she said Bengaluru was at the epicentre of the pandemic with a high number of deaths and infections. The black fungus infection has only made things worse.

Noting that a shortage of oxygen, testing kits, ICU beds, vaccines and even crematoriums have created panic among people, the letter called upon the government to prioritise welfare. “Life is more precious than transport infrastructure; prioritising the metro project by tree-felling over public health sends a wrong message to the citizens,” it said.

Requesting a status quo on Phases 2A (Silk Board to KR Puram) and 2B (KR Puram to Kempegowda International Airport), she called for preparing a fresh detailed project report and making a revised comprehensive traffic assessment by taking into account the impact of the work-from-home regime.