BMRCL hopes to wrap up Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield metro line work in time

With the completion of 30 pillars for the Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield Phase 2 metro line, construction work on the route has gathered pace.

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited has divided the 15.50-kilometre route into Reach 1A (Baiyappanahalli-Visvesvaraya Industrial Area) and Reach 1B (the remaining distance till Whitefield). Of the 579 pillars spanning the route, it has erected 18 in Reach 1A and 12 in Reach 1B.

The metro corporation has also finished laying 1,100 of about 3,600 pile and pile caps (deep foundations) in the route.

The line would run parallel with the Whitefield Main Road and turn right at Hoodi to join the industrial area at Kundalahalli.

It will once again come adjacent to the main road at ITPL before cutting left at Hoskote Road to stop near the Kadugodi police station.

"We've set a 27-month target to finish with the construction work," a BMRCL official said, adding, "The contractor can finish the work before the deadline if he continues in the same pace."

The official also said clearing the grounds for the metro rail line is also going on simultaneously with the shifting of the underground drinking water and sewage lines, besides widening the roads at several stretches to re-route traffic. Nearly 102 buildings have been razed and only 20 more to be demolished, he said.

The  corporation has to redirect the three-kilometre, 220-kV power line between Kundalahalli and Satya Sai Hospital, which it could not carry out due to delay in shifting utility lines. The Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) has paid Rs 64 crore for the task.

With the metro construction work under way in several areas at Whitefield Main Road, it is witnessing alarming levels of traffic chaos.

"The contractors have deployed traffic marshals to handle the situation, but they have limited options to redirect the vehicles," the official said.