Bengaluru: While the number of vehicles in the city are increasing at the rate of 10-15 percent per year, the much anticipated Namma Metro project is moving at a snail’s pace and has already missed many deadlines. For the last 10 years, the people of Bengaluru have been living in hope of metro connectivity easing their commuting woes, but they are forced to contend with ever increasing traffic volumes on the roads. Although the work on underground section of the east-west corridor is over, trials are yet to begin, and the underground section of the north-south is not yet completed.
Though the initial estimated cost was Rs 5,400 crore in 2006, now it has tripled to Rs 13,845 crore. The inability to meet the deadlines has become a perennial problem. Experts are of the opinion that the tall claims made by the Chief Minister in his budget speech that the city will witness a full-fledged metro Phase 1 by this year-end, is not only impractical but impossible. In fact, many say the metro work might stretch till 2017 before it is fully functional.
The main reasons for the metro’s slow progress, are the poor soil condition, the uselessness of the tunnel-boring machine Godavari, which is in a continuous state of disrepair, and the slow pace of underground work over the entire north-south corridor and Majestic Interchange station. Also, there is a large amount of civil, electrical and station work yet to be completed.
Platform work in the North-South sector is still underway at Majestic Interchange station. Tracks are yet to be laid but the base land is ready. On the positive side, both the east and west bound lines are ready. Currently, the system and electrical work are going on in the east and west bound line. A BMRCL official said, “Trials can be started in the east-west line anytime. But for the North-South lines to be ready, it will take some time. We are hoping to complete the station work by October and the Majestic interchange by December.” Godavari is currently being attended to, with the cutter in the process of being replaced.
However urban expert Ashwin Mahesh is sceptical, “I do not believe that we will see a functional Phase 1 by this year-end or early next year. Recently, in a workshop, many experts have said that it might take another two years for the metro to be completed. One TBM is still not functional. Till now trials have not been undertaken on Puttenahalli stretch. In Phase 2, Electronic City and other places will be connected by metro, so it will be more pragmatic for them to build a depot on the south line. The city has grown at a rapid rate. Metro work is slower than the growth and the demand. The Metro will not be of any help to commuters for at least the next 5-10 years, till we develop other modes of transport.”
Urban analyst Vivek Menon said, “The biggest problem with a project of this kind is that it needs a comprehensive schedule that holds the contractors liable in case of delay. Every milestone should have an incentive and disincentive. Contractors should be penalized in case of delay, after all this is public money they are wasting. In the absence of such a structure, it is impossible to deliver. Someone must be held responsible for the cost escalation and huge schedule overrun. We need a transportation commission who will report directly to the CM and be responsible for disbursement of funds, monitoring and coordination among various agencies. That is when we will get a amalgamated network.”
Functional Stretch
Reach 1 (East Line)
Cricket Stadium to Byapanahalli
(6.7 km): Became functional on October 20, 2011
Reach 3 (North Line)
Sampige to Yeshwanthpur (5.1 km): Functional since March 1, 2014
Reach 3a (First North Extension Line)
Yeshwanthpur to Peenya Industry (4.8 km) : Functional since March 1, 2014
Reach 3b (South North Extension Line)
Peenya Industry to Nagasandra
(2.5 km): Functional since May 1, 2015
Yet to open
Reach 2 (West Line)
Leprosy to Mysore Road (6.4 km): Under trial. This stretch was expected to open by July. Officials say it will open in a month or two
Reach 4 (South Line):
National College to Rashtreeya Vidyalaya Road (4.1 km)
Reach 4a (South Extension Line)
Rashtreeya Vidyalaya Road to Puttenahalli (3.9 km) : Tenders has been called to airlift train
East-West Corridor (Cricket Stadium to Magadi Road)
Tunnels are ready. 95% of the work is completed. Station, civil, ac units and electrical work is going on
North-South Corridor (Sampige to National College, 4.0 km):
Tunnels are yet to be ready
Other modes of transport need to be in sync
Many experts believe the construction of the metro in isolation from other modes of transport will not serve any purpose. The demand for commuter rail and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is still pending, while our BMTC buses are ill-equipped to serve the growing demand.
Ashwin Mahesh says, “The proposal of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has been there for a long time but there are no takers. BRT could have been finished in less than a year, it would have consumed less time and would have been much cheaper too. Buses will always remain important. Even Europe, which has a beautiful metro structure, carries more people on buses. So, I would say, let the metro work go on but invest in good infrastructure supplying buses as well.”
The demand from commuters has been growing on a massive scale as compared to the development of metro. M A Siraj, member of Praja says, “Even on completion of all its phases, the Metro would cater to only 1 million of the 23 million commuter trips a day that would be taking place in the city by then. The BMTC is expected to be sharing another 4 to 5 million trips. This still leaves a gap of nearly 8 million trips that would be looking for some mass transit system. In its absence, the people will have the only option of continuing to use their private and personal vehicles, which are the most inefficient mode of urban transport for a city of the size of Bengaluru.”
Siraj adds, “The metro was showcased initially with such zeal and enthusiasm as a ‘remedy for all transportation woes of the city’, that no other option has found even a modicum of acceptance with the authorities. Be it Suburban Rail, BRTS, revamp of BMTC operations or improvement of pedestrian/cyclist corridors, none has found a place among the priorities of the State Government.”
Commuter rail has been a long-term demand from various groups, but this issue has failed to get any substantial boost from the government. Khader B Syed, another member of Praja adds, “Sustained advocacy exerted enough pressure on DULT to engage RITES into producing a feasibility report in July 2012 for a Commuter Rail Service.”
“It identified the existing infrastructure gaps that could be filled in the most cost-effective manner and how a network on an area of 440 sq. km could be laid around the city with a projected daily ridership of 25 lakh commuters. It was not meant to replace the Metro but targeted at complementing it and the BMTC services,” he said.
