Bengaluru: Making commuting easier for 10 lakh passengers enroute, the Metro Rail will now connect the Central Silk Board junction to K R Puram under Phase-II A of the project.
Speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting of the Bengaluru Metropolitan Rail Committee Ltd here on Wednesday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the Rs 3,500 crore project would be executed on priority and completed in the next two years to decongest the stretch.
While Metro Phase II as a whole was expected to cost Rs 26,000 crore, the Silk Board to K R Puram stretch would be funded through money raised by auctioning Metro land, he revealed.
Also, work on the Metro Rail running for 16 kms between Electronic City and Whitefield could begin soon as tenders are expected to be floated for the stretch under Metro II phase by end of September. The civil work for this stretch of the Metro will begin immediately, according to the Chief Minister.
A deadline of 2020 has been set for Metro Phase II covering 72 kms. While the Union and state governments are expected to provide 20 per cent each of the Rs 26, 000 crore required to execute it, the rest of the funds will met by a loan provided by France. “We have asked the BMRCL to complete the project ahead of schedule,” Mr Siddaramaiah assured.
The deadline for completion of Metro Phase I has been extended from November 2016 to April 2017. With 31 kms of the 42 km stretch already functional, only 11 kms of the stretch remains to be completed. While work over
15 meters of the rail in Chickpet has been delayed owing to buildings in the vicinity developing cracks, Namma Metro has been asked to lay tracks and complete the electrical work in other places as soon as possible. “The BMRCL has been a given monthly time -bound schedule for speedy implementation,” the Chief Minister said.
KIA CONNECTIVITY: As for improving the city’s connectivity with the Kempe Gowda International Airport, he said RITES had suggested nine alternative roads, which would be uploaded on the web for public feedback. Once it was received the government would finalise the alternative road best suited to the area. Also, negotiations with bidders for building the steel bridge between Basaveshwara Circle and Hebbal were likely to be completed by the month end and the government was planning to lay the foundation stone for the project by October, he revealed.
Asked why the drive to clear storm water drains of encroachments had been interrupted, Mr Siddaramaiah explained a shortage of surveyors was causing the delay, but assured it would resume in a couple of days in Dasarahalli as new surveyors had now been appointed. He revealed the government was planning to allot flats for the poor who had lost their homes in the drive.
Asked when he was likely to meet the Prime Minister on the Cauvery issue, Mr Siddaramaiah said he was waiting for an appointment with him.
