Namma Metro's daily ridership will rise from 8.5 lakh to 14 lakh, says BMRCL chief

Bengaluru: Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limted (BMRCL) believes that with the commissioning of the Yellow Line, its ridership will increase to 14 lakh. 

Speaking at the 48th annual general meeting of the Bangalore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCIC) on Wednesday, BMRCL Managing Director M Maheshwar Rao acknowledged the delays in opening the 19.15-km Bommasandra-RV Road line. 

"Last year when I joined, I had promised that we would start the Yellow Line in four months. I think I'm very horribly wrong there... By August, we should be able to start operations and we are very, very confident," he said. 

Rao expressed hope that the Yellow Line would help increase ridership from 8.5 lakh to 1.4 million and decongest the Silk Road junction. 

He noted that the state government had initiated other big infrastructure projects, including the Sarjapur-Hebbal metro line and flyovers, which would provide relief to people traveling around the city. 

"There are long-term solutions in terms of providing transportation, better mobility connectivity and that, along with good quality bus service, is going to reduce a lot of the congestion," he explained.  

Rao stressed the need for creating last-mile solutions. "How we can get people who come to the station if we can connect them through some kind of a bus service."  

S Selvakumar, Principal Secretary of the Commerce and Industries Department, said, "Karnataka is the number one state in exports, and number two in GST and income tax contributions. Our aim is to increase our footprint in manufacturing." 

BCIC president Vineet Verma said that the government should establish a Disneyland-style theme park in KWIN City, near the Kempegowda International Airport. 

The BCIC felicitated Col HS Shankar, whose SkyStriker drone came into prominence during Operation Sindoor; G Madhavi Latha, who played a key role in the construction of the Chenab railway bridge in Kashmir, and C Vallipappa, who was BCIC president during 1995-96.