Metro skips deadline, to reach Anjanapura next year

Namma Metro will roll into Anjanapura next year whereas the work on Mysuru-Road Kengeri is expected to be completed only in 2020, a year later than the deadline set by the previous government.

With this, the previous government’s announcement of opening the Yelachenahalli-Anjanapura line (6.29 km) by December 2018 and Mysore Road-Kengeri line (6.46) by mid-2020 has turned out to be a shallow promise.

The then Bengaluru Development Minister K J George had announced about this during an inspection of metro work.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) Managing Director Ajay Seth said civil work on the Anajanapura line would be completed only by April 2019.

“We will be able to commission both the lines (Anjanapura and Kengeri) in 2020. I cannot give the precise month (for commissioning) at this juncture,” he said.

Financial crisis

The financial crisis of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS), the contractor for Mysore Road-Pattangere (3.95 km) stretch has reportedly hit the progress of work on the Kengeri line.

“The contractor has finished 75% of the work, and we are looking into the issues. Work is going on, and the line will be commissioned in 2020,” he said.

The BMRCL called tender for the Silk Board-KR Puram Metro line on Outer Ring Road (Phase 2A) in February. The deadline for submission of bids ended in May, following an extension of the last date for the bid submission.

However, the financial bids are yet to be opened.

Sources in BMRCL said IL&FS, a company since in financial crisis, has emerged the lowest bidder.

Asked about the BMRCL’s decision on the bidder, the managing director said they were still evaluating the situation.

“We have not yet awarded the tender for ORR Metro. There are issues, which are being closely evaluated. We would not like to take any knee-jerk decision,” he said.