The Metro rail project is in fresh trouble, on Maha Kavi Kuvempu Road in Rajajinagar this time. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), the implementing agency of the metro rail project, is having a tough time in the process of acquiring a building near Navrang Theatre notified for acquisition.
The tenant of the building, a public sector bank, is unwilling to vacate the premises, saying that the bank was not given any prior notice in this regard and has moved the court to get a stay order.
However, BMRCL officials said that the proposed acquisition was notified in the state gazette. Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) also notified the proposed acquisition September last year, follwing which the bank published advertisements in newspapers seeking a suitable place to shift the Rajajinagar branch, said a senior BMRCL official.
“Any delay in acquisition of buildings would delay the project in Reach III (Swastik to Yeshwanthpur). The present alignment of the rail network has already been approved at all stages and it cannot be changed now. The alignment and necessary acquisitions have been publicised.
And, any objections at this stage would not only cause delay in the project execution and would serve no other purpose. People’s co-operation is crucial for a mass public transport system like Namma Metro,” said a BMRCL official.
Demolition of buildings, road widening work by Karnataka Land Army Corporation Limited, shifting of utilities by the departments concerned is under way in Rajajinagar area.
History of acquisition problems Probl ems related to acquisition of private buildings are not new to Namma Metro. Metro rail projects, at one point of time, had as many as 20 writ petitions against it, most of them relating to acquisition. The High Court of Karnataka recently heard and dismissed many of these cases including construction of station at Trinity Circle.
However, construction of MG Road metro station at Plaza Theatre is still under litigation though the contact for construction of this station has been already awarded.