No safe passage for commuters between Kengeri metro, bus stations

Lack of connectivity between various transport boarding points has been a perennial concern for city commuters, and the Kengeri metro station is no exception.

Riders find no safe passage to move between the station and the bus stand and their ordeal is no different from those moving between the metro and bus stations in Yeshwantpur. Broken roads and sparsely existent footpaths only make matters worse. The Kengeri metro station was opened in August.

While passengers at the railway station do not mind walking a kilometre to the bus stand, they find traversing the busy Mysuru Road (National Highway 275) unsafe.

Krishna Prasad from the Karnataka Railway Vedike said the Kengeri station lures more passengers since most trains do not stop at the Jnanabharathi halt station.

“We need a foot over bridge (FOB) to cross Mysuru Road and another to connect the metro station and the TTMC,” he said, adding: “Footpaths along the road are either unusable or non-existent.”

Despite the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) calling for a tender to build seven FOBs, including for Yeshwantpur and Kengeri, the contractor has dropped the project citing a sudden spike in the price of steel.

BMRCL Managing Director Anjum Parwez said a fresh tender will be awarded in the next two weeks. “We awarded the work last year. But the contractor dropped the project. Bids for a fresh tender are under evaluation and the work will be awarded within the next two weeks.”

Work to fabricate and erect seven FOBs in Yeshwanthpur, Dasarahalli, and Nagasandra stations of Phase-1, and Mylasandra, Jnanabharathi, and Chikkabidarakallu (Jindal) was awarded to Bharat Builders at an estimated cost of Rs 10.84 crore.

FOBs along Dasarahalli, Nagasandra, and Chikkabidarakallu have been planned to help passengers cross Tumakuru Road to reach the metro stations.

“Days after the letter of acceptance was given, steel prices almost doubled, while the BMRCL didn’t make any payments. The contractor didn’t begin work and the company walked away,” a source said, adding that the project cost may increase depending on the spike in the cost of materials.