BENGALURU: “BMRCL did not stick to the detailed project report prepared by DMRC and that is the reason behind the delays and cost escalations of Bengaluru Metro Rail project,” said the Metro Man, E. Sreedharan, who was in the city on Tuesday. He said the decision to change the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd’s directors frequently and the appointment of bureaucrats instead of technocrats has cost the project dearly. It is not merely the delay and the cost escalation, how will Namma Metro be financially sustainable without being a liability on the state government, he asked.
“The BMRCL has taken expensive loans, and how is it going to pay them back? The corporation is incurring operational losses of not less than Rs 15-20 lakh per day, while DMRC operates with a surplus of Rs 600-700 crore per annum,” he said.
It is more than four-and-half-years since DMRC, which was once the primary consulting agency to BMRC, and the local Metro Rail corporation have severed their ties. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s prediction that the Majestic interchange would become waterlogged has, in fact, come true. “Fearing that the Majestic interchange would be the biggest deadlock, we had suggested an alternative, but it was rejected by Mr Sivasailam, the then MD. He was in a hurry to terminate the contract,” he said.
DMRC had suggested that the underground section should be taken up immediately after the project started, but BMRC took the easy way out and completed the elevated portions first.
One of the excuses BMRCL has often given for the delay is the rough terrain in the city, but Mr Sreedharan said that it is nothing but sheer incompetence. “They should have anticipated such events and got Tunnel Boring Machines that are of such capacity. Delhi witnessed machine breakdowns, but we did not wait to call for tender. We got the equipment from Singapore, made a shaft and fixed it in 45 days.”
Mr Sreedharan served as Managing Director of DMRC for 14 years continuously, while Namma Metro has seen five managing directors. “The new people are inexperienced. Besides, if there is a change in the MD, there is no accountability. It is possible to finish the work within deadline and within the cost estimate. For that, one needs to keep a close look on every step of the contractor,” he said.
Bullet train between Mysuru, Bengaluru not justified
On the High Speed Rail between Bengaluru and Mysuru, he said that the distance is 130 km and a direct alignment will reduce the distance by 20 km. A bullet train with speeds of up to 350 kmph does not make sense, as such trains can reach full speed only after covering around 45 km. A sensible proposal would be to run trains with a maximum speed of 200 kmph and the distance between the two cities can be conveniently covered in 40 minutes.
Our NGO questions wasted Parliament time: Sreedharan
Sreedharan is a member of the NGO, Foundation for Restoration of National Values. Considering the wastage of public money during the monsoon Parliament session, it has filed a PIL in the Supreme Court. He said, “ Rs 1.5 crore of public money was wasted every hour. Between 2009 and 2014, over 40 percent of the House time was wasted in public demonstration inside Parliament.”
