E-Paper
Will complete Bengaluru Metro Ph 2 project by 2024: CM Bommai
The chief minister’s statement comes even as the Bengaluru Metro project continue to witness long delays, forcing over 12 million residents of the city to depend on private transport for commuting.
Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday reiterated that the Phase-II of the Bengaluru Metro should be completed by 2024, a year ahead of the original deadline, so as to ensure that the project becomes a “lifeline” for the residents of India’s IT capital.
After witnessing the completion of the 885 meter underground stretch, Bommai told reporters that the subsequent reaches or stages of the Metro would be completed much faster.
“Metro is a prominent plan for Bengaluru . When Metro second phase (Phase-II) is completed, then it would mean another 56 kms (of metro lines),” he said.
The statement comes even as the Metro project continue to witness long delays, forcing over 12 million residents of the city to depend on private transport for commuting.
According to the Metro chief, Anjum Parvez, the average tunneling per day per machine is around 4 meters with wire-duct is double this length.
The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has managed to complete just around 60 kms in the last 13 years, averaging around 4 kms per year, Hindustan Times had reported in February.
“The first phase was a little difficult because it was new,” Bommai said, adding that the learnings from this phase would help quicken the other stages and make it operational.
The chief minister said that the speedy completion of the Metro would reduce the load on the roads. With over 9.4 million vehicles, poor quality of roads, dug up streets and other basic infrastructure problems, Bengaluru’s infamous traffic became a global phenomena when it was adjudged to have the world’s worst traffic, according to a 2019 report by Netherlands-based TomTom.
Each year due the delay, Metro officials said, would add to at least a 5% escalation in project cost.
Bommai has also asked officials to draw up plans to more than double the existing metro line plan to 317 kms with the Phase-III operations.
Metro is a major project undertaken in almost all big urban centres across the country.
According to the Union government, about 730 kms of Metro lines are operational in 18 different cities and another 1,049 kms of Metro rail / RRTS projects are under construction.
A Metro line is also being constructed till Bengaluru international airport, about 40 kms away from the city and is scheduled to be completed in 2025.
Bommai said that the government wants to take the Metro till the airport and that the Centre has shown a lot of interest and has provided financial support as well.
