BENGALURU: Chief Secretary K Ratna Prabha on Tuesday informed the Karnataka High Court that the demands of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) employees will be considered in a phased manner. At the same time, she has advised the employees not to compare BMRCL with the other Metro companies in the country as the Metro in Bengaluru had just started operations for the last two years and is still running under loss. The employees should consider the BMRCL’s financial condition as their own and manage with it, she said.
This was stated in the proceedings of the tripartite meeting she held with BMRCL management and its employees’ union, which was filed before the High Court by Additional Advocate General AS Ponnanna.
In compliance with the High Court order of June 4, Ponnanna filed a memo enclosing the proceedings of the two meetings, dated June 8 and 15, chaired by Additional Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar, Urban Development Department, and Chief Secretary K Ratna Prabha, respectively.
Then the counsel of the BMRCL employees’ union submitted that he will verify the details and make appropriate submission. Justice AS Bopanna adjourned the matter to June 27 for hearing.“Since the present employees are the founders of Metro in Bengaluru, they should be proud about their organisation and the government is always ready to resolve their genuine demands. The meeting ended with an assurance that they will withdraw the strike notice”, according to the proceedings of the meeting chaired by Ratna Prabha.
While concluding the meeting, Ratna Prabha advised the employees’ representatives to sort out their genuine problems amicably with the management and not to resort to strike. She also reminded them that Metro employees were part of the government and they were public servants. They should realise their responsibilities and duties in providing uninterrupted Metro services to the public, she said.
Tenders called for Vellara-Shivajinagar route
Bengaluru: The BMRCL on Tuesday floated tenders for one segment of the Nagawara-Gottigere Line (Reach-6) of its Phase-II project. Bidders have been called for to construct underground structures between Vellara Junction and Shivajinagar at a cost of K1,130.61 crore. The completion of the entire North-South Line (21.25 km) is crucial for the connectivity to airport as the line will be extended from Nagawara. The tender called on Tuesday is for the construction of structures for a length of 2.755 km at Vellara, M G Road and Shivajinagar. The Nagawara-Gottigere line will be the costliest of all lines in Phase-II and is set to cost K11,014 crore out of the K26,405-crore project. The last date of submission of bids is September 1. BMRCL had called for tenders for the construction of the underground corridor of the Nagawara-Gottigere line late last year. However, the bids were exhorbitant and overshot BMRCL’s estimate of nearly K5,000 crore. Hence, it was cancelled and project split into packages.
Woman loco-pilot to run first 6-car Metro on Friday
Bengaluru: As has been the norm with all major launches by the BMRCL, it will once again be a woman loco-pilot at the controls when the first six-coach Metro train is flagged off from the Baiyappanahalli Metro station this Friday afternoon. The Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Union Ministers will be among the VIPs taking part in the inaugural function. BMRCL MD Mahendra Jain said, “The train will be flagged off on Friday afternoon. We are still finalising the time.” He reiterated that one coach will be reserved exclusively for women in the new train. An official source said, “The first day trip is likely to be a round trip from Baiyappanahalli to Mysuru Road or Vijayanagar. It is in the process of being finalised.” BMRCL officials were in closed-door discussions all day readying for the big launch. The completion of the first year of Metro’s full Phase-I will be celebrated during the event.