Rain slows Metro work on Electronics City line

Rain has been hindering work on Namma Metro’s RV Road-Bommasandra line that had gained pace after the main demolition work was completed two months ago.

The second phase of the project will serve burgeoning IT corridor in the east (Byappanhalli-Whitefield) and the old IT hub in the south east. The 18.82 km metro line begins with a new station next to the existing RV Road station and terminates near the proposed peripheral ring road at Bommasandra.

The line will also save lakhs of commuters who spend harrowing hours at the Silk Board Junction everyday. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has divided the project into three packages of about 6.4 km to expedite the work.

“Most of the demolition work on Hosur Road is done. We have started the work on drains. About one-km drain was built at the site of two stations. Since August, however, rain has been playing spoilsport. We rarely get a window of opportunity to carry out the work,” a senior BMRCL official said.

The BMRCL has entered into an understanding with the National Highways Authorities of India (NHAI) for construction work on NH 44. Contractors have to widen the 10-km service road on the western side of the highway before they can start civil work.

“Road building involves a huge amount of work that we will take up in parts. The congested service road already sees heavy traffic. We have to carry out civil work ensuring minimum inconvenience to commuters. The work has been delayed by two months,” the official said.

BMRCL spokesperson U A Vasant Rao said work has been taken up at places which don’t affect commuters or public. “Shifting of drain and electrical utilities has been completed for Electronic City 2 station and work on building 22 piles is ongoing. Utilities are being shifted at the site of Muneshwara Nagar and Oxford stations,” he said.

The road widening work at RV Road-Silk Board is less complicated compared to the 10-km stretch between Silk Board and Bommasandra, where work is expected to be protracted due to the traffic diversions. “We will take up the service road work in patches. Once completed, the line in expected to carry 4 lakh people per day. We hope to start the work in full scale after the rain stops,” a BMRCL official said.