<p>The commissioner of railway safety will inspect the metro line between Mysuru Road and Kengeri in western Bengaluru on August 11 and 12. </p>.<p>If everything goes well, the 7.5-km line constructed under Phase 2 of Namma Metro may get the green signal within a few days thereafter and open to the public before August-end. </p>.<p>The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has missed multiple deadlines for the line, which is the western extension of Reach 2, since December 2018. </p>.<p>Among other problems, the financial crisis faced by the original contractor IL&FS delayed the work by nearly a year. Covid-19 dealt another blow last year when thousands of migrant workers left Bengaluru following the lockdown. </p>.<p>The inspection was to happen in June and the line was to open in July but things got stuck because of the delay in getting the fire safety certification for a large parking space at one of the stations, said a source in the BMRCL. </p>.<p>“Everything was ready by June 30, except for some minor works which aren’t part of the safety inspection. We lost several days to the fire safety certificate procedure,” the source added. </p>.<p>As per an estimate that BMRCL officials had made before Covid-19, the Kengeri metro line would see a daily ridership of 75,000. </p>.<p>The contract was awarded at an estimated cost of Rs 659 crore. BMRCL officials had hoped to reduce the cost by about Rs 75 crore when the contract was modified in 2019. </p>
<p>The commissioner of railway safety will inspect the metro line between Mysuru Road and Kengeri in western Bengaluru on August 11 and 12. </p>.<p>If everything goes well, the 7.5-km line constructed under Phase 2 of Namma Metro may get the green signal within a few days thereafter and open to the public before August-end. </p>.<p>The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has missed multiple deadlines for the line, which is the western extension of Reach 2, since December 2018. </p>.<p>Among other problems, the financial crisis faced by the original contractor IL&FS delayed the work by nearly a year. Covid-19 dealt another blow last year when thousands of migrant workers left Bengaluru following the lockdown. </p>.<p>The inspection was to happen in June and the line was to open in July but things got stuck because of the delay in getting the fire safety certification for a large parking space at one of the stations, said a source in the BMRCL. </p>.<p>“Everything was ready by June 30, except for some minor works which aren’t part of the safety inspection. We lost several days to the fire safety certificate procedure,” the source added. </p>.<p>As per an estimate that BMRCL officials had made before Covid-19, the Kengeri metro line would see a daily ridership of 75,000. </p>.<p>The contract was awarded at an estimated cost of Rs 659 crore. BMRCL officials had hoped to reduce the cost by about Rs 75 crore when the contract was modified in 2019. </p>
