Bengaluru: In yet another effort to exert political pressure on BMRCL to reverse their decision on the proposed Cantonment Metro station location, Member of Parliament P.C. Mohan shot off a letter to CM Siddaramaiah on behalf of agitating civilians.
“It has come to my notice that there seem to be many deviations from the original DPR for Phase 2, especially at the Cantonment Railway Station. As we are getting ready to welcome suburban rail in Bengaluru, the whole purpose of this exercise will be defeated by not integrating this station with other modes of public transport," he said in a letter dated September 24.
Similar to the citizens’ letter countering the reasons given by BMRCL point by point, the BJP MP wrote, “The reasons given by BMRCL hold no water, for instance, original alignment having more curvature and reducing speed. As the distance between 2 stations is 1 km, the reduction of speed does not arise at all. It will be the same in the proposed Bamboo Bazaar location."
The latest campaign slogan by civilians is “Namma Metro Sariyag Katro” (Namma Metro build it properly). The citizen's counter statement on the department's financial reasons reads, “The project was approved in 2014 at Rs 25,000 crores with an in-built escalation of 5% per year of delay. It is safe to take the project cost as Rs 30,000 crore today and they talk of saving Rs 1000 crores in Cantonment."
“As per my information, there is no such requirement. In UG section at Majestic, the Railways have confirmed to me that the tunnel is passing at only 8 metres depth under the KSR-SBC Railway Station. In my opinion, this 30-metre rule cited above is only to mislead the public," he said.
Mirroring points by transport experts, he wrote, “I would like to draw your attention to the Delhi Airport Express, which operates 40 metres below another Metro tunnel, with the length between two stations at 3 km, showcasing technology and safety preparedness. Here, it just an excuse as new line is going under thickly populated areas while original line is under government, road and railway land." The MP concluded the letter to Mr Siddaramaiah, asking for a joint meeting with BMRCL, ministry of urban development, Railways and experts in New Delhi to "sort out this confusion and come out with a proper plan which is least inconvenient to the public at large".
