BENGALURU: The crucial 17km Phase II-A of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) that will connect the techie corridor between KR Puram and Silk Board awaits a crucial portion of land from the Water Supply Board. The delay in getting clearance for the land is compounded by the fact that a police station is seated on the required plot.
The Rs 5,990 crore ORR line requires 40,757sqm of land, of which nearly 18,000sqm is government land and the remainder is private property.BMRCL Land Acquisitions Cell Manager, M S Channappa Goudar told New Indian Express, “We initially required 36,000sqm of land for the 17km line. The land required was later revised by more than 4,000sqm as we wanted land for the overhead lines as well as a bus depot near Silk Board to facilitate inter modal integration.”
Of the total government land required, Bangalore Development Authority and BBMP have already handed over the portions required from them. “We are still waiting for 1,530sqm of land from Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) for one portion of the Kodibisanahalli Metro station as well as our pocket track. We have sent repeated requests to the board,” he said.
Pocket track refers to an additional track provided for roughly every 8km of railway tracks that is used only during emergencies. Whenever any train suffers any problem, it is taken aside on this track so that traffic on the regular tracks does not get affected. Metro’s Phase-I has pocket tracks at Mahalakshmi Layout and Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda stations.
Even if BMRCL gets the land, it needs to get the consent of the top brass of the police department, the manager said. “We need to talk to top police officials and even the Home Secretary as the Marthahalli police station had been temporarily put up on this plot of land. It also has to be relocated,” Goudar added.
Asked if there were any issues with procurement of private land, he said the process of acquisition has begun. “Notification of properties to be acquired have already been issued.
The process of providing compensation by Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board has begun. Many owners are still taking some time to present ownership documents and claim the compensation,” the manager said.Asked about the delay, BWSSB Chairman Tushar Girinath said he had looked into the issue recently. “We will hand over the land to BMRCL shortly,” he said.
Elevated ORR line will have 13 stns
KR Puram, Mahadevapura, DRDO sports complex, Doddanekundi, ISRO, Marathahalli, Kodibisanahalli, Kadubeesanahalli, Bellandur, Iblur, Agara Lake, HSR Layout, Silk Board
Pvt funding for two stationsEmbassy Group will fund Kadubeesanahalli Metro station while Intel will sponsor the Bellandur Metro station.