Unending wait for the Metro

Delayed Process

The Bangalore Metro has long been touted as the perfect solution to the City’s heavy traffic congestion but the pace at which the project is proceeding has dampened the enthusiasm of many.

The second phase of the Metro was approved in this year’s State budget. But
Bangaloreans still feel that the government should speed up the work to complete the project.

According to the BMRCL, the second phase of the Metro covers a distance of
72.­095 km and adds 61 stations to the network. Phase II consists of extensions of all four reaches of the Metro, as well as two new lines.

The RV Road to Bommasandra line, on the outskirts of the city, will have 16 stations. The one between Gottigere, IIM-B and Nagavara will have 18 stations with six elevated and 12 underground stations.

The extensions are as follows — Byappanahalli to Whitefield (extension of east-west line), which will have 14 stations; the Mysore Road terminal to Kengeri (extension of east-west line), which has five stations; Hesaraghatta Cross to Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) on Tumkur Road (extension of north-south line), which has three stations and Puttenahalli Cross to Anjanapura township — up to the NICE crossing — (extension of north-south line), which has five stations.

But given that the first phase of the Metro isn’t complete yet, most Bangaloreans remain cynical as to when the second will be operational. Meghana Satish, a student, says that speeding the entire process would help a lot of citizens, especially those who travel long distances.

 “Phase II of the Metro promises to end the woes of the average Bangalorean, who is stuck in traffic for long hours. However, we are running out of patience. The work for the first phase is not over yet — who knows when the second phase will be completed?” she says.

B L Y Chavan, the Chief PRO of the BMRCL, says that they are targeting to complete Phase II by 2018. “We are yet to get the nod from the Government of India. Once we get that, we will look at completing the project by 2018. Any Metro project takes that kind of time. The elevated stations will take around three and a half years and the underground ones will take close to two years,” he says.

Nagesh, an IT professional who travels from Koramangala to Electronic City on a daily basis, says, “If the process is completed faster, we will be spared from Bangalore’s dust, pollution and terrible traffic jams. Kanakapura Road is in a horrible state due to the Metro construction work. The completion of Phase II might take longer but the least the government can do is hurry up and complete the tracks under Phase I, Reach 3 for the public.”

Siri, a student, says that commuting to her college in Banashankari takes her an hour everyday. “While coming back from college, I have to travel for at least an hour and a half. When I reach home, I have no energy to do anything else. The Metro will help us save time as well as energy,” she sums up.