'Use Race Course land for Metro project'

Advocating this to save heritage buildings and preserve green cover, is Dr Yellappa Reddy, who recently resigned as Chairman of the Environment Impact Assessment and Monitoring Committee (EIAMC) constituted by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).

Speculations over the construction of the City’s tallest skyscraper on this land is still in the air. However, environmentalists have warned of strong protests if the greenery is not retained here. But Reddy wants a portion of its land for an underground metro rail station instead of that planned along Vidhana Soudha and High Court.

Alternative
“Why should they cut hundreds of trees for a metro station. The race course is not too far from Vidhana Soudha, High Court and even Central College. They can construct a station beneath the club land. All it needs is just 200 sq feet of land. We can prevent the traffic problem and money along with our heritage buildings,” he explained. 

He said that the race course is a huge grass patch with no significant tree cover and felling of trees can be totally avoided, if the metro rail alignment shifts to the race course. “ We can develop lawns over it and beautify it by landscaping it later on. It works out very cheap compared to the existing alignment the BMRCL has taken up now,” he said.
Speaking on the circumstances which led to his resignation, he said the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited is not heeding to the suggestions given by the Committee.
“If there was any trees to be cut, they wanted the committee. But they never called us for planning, never took us for any inspection of the spot, “ he said.

Yellappa Reddy said that he had hundreds of opinions, which could have saved lot of greenery in the City, but the authorities never felt the need to hear them.
Criticising BMRCL that it will ferry about four lakh passengers once the under ground station comes up at Vidhana Soudha, he said that the company has got the calculations wrong and should not be secretive about the work taken up by them.