Bengaluru: The decision of the BMRCL and Urban Development Department to change the location of the Cantonment Metro Station has got many Bengalureans worried. The point of contention is the integration of the new station or the lack of it with the Cantonment railway station.
An 18 point memorandum submitted to the BMRCL by concerned citizens contradicts many of the reasons given by it to shift the station to near the Bamboo Bazaar Road. " The distance on the online maps clearly shows the walkway connecting the new Metro station alignment to the Cantonment railway station is 814 meters, and not 250 meters as the BMRCL claims," says Mr Rajkumar, of the Vasanthnagar Resident Welfare Association, who has submitted the memorandum along with transport expert, Sanjeev Dyamnavar, referring to the new alignment that encroaches on a BBMP playground. Moreover, the memorandum points that the Karnataka Parks, Playfields and Open Spaces Preservation Act, 1985 has laid down that no playground can be used for any other purpose. It finds the new location unsuitable also due to the poor access provided to it,. “The depth and curvature of the Metro station at Cantonment was approved in 2014 both by the state and Union governments, which took into consideration all the technical factors before releasing the DPR. How can the BMRCL now change an alignment without consultation?" Mr Rajkumar wonders.
MP upset with new Metro alignment
Lok Sabha MP P.C. Mohan expressed his displeasure with BMRCL changing the alignment of Cantonment Metro Station, bypassing the railway station. In a Facebook post he said, “It is not in the interest of commuters to locate the Cant. Metro station in Bamboo Bazaar as it defeats the very purpose of encouraging public transport. I will take up the matter with both Union Development Ministry and BMRCL on why the original alignment cannot be maintained." He added that Cantonment Railway will be an important suburban station in future where lakhs of commuters will change over to the Metro.
