BENGALURU: In a first for Metro stations in India, the interiors of the upcoming Bamboo Bazar Metro station, being constructed by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), will entirely be made using bamboo.
Punati Shridhar, Chairman, Bamboo Society of India (BSI), and former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, said they had approached BMRCL for creating a theme-based station using bamboo, which the latter has agreed. The medians below the metro tracks and stations will also be greened using local and Indian bamboo.
Dr KN Murthy, Executive Director, BSI, told The New Indian Express, that Bambusa tulda wood from Tripura will be used for the metro station where the landscape, open area and crafts will also be done with bamboo. Also, the five-kilometre-stretch on Bannerghatta Road from Jayadeva hospital to Meenakshi Temple, below the metro tracks and the stations, will be greened with Bambusa multiplex.
He said both the works will start in the next three months and would cost around Rs 5-6 crore. However the final financial estimates and the bamboo required is still being calculated. The BMRCL will fund the metro station works and the greening of the medians done using its corporate social responsibility funds.
BSI chairman Sridhar highlighted an irony that is being sought to be corrected, and explained why India needs to use more of its own bamboo in construction and interiors within the country. Although India has 13.9 million hectares of land under bamboo cultivation — the largest in the world — it is China with just seven million hectares of land for bamboo cultivation which is the largest producer with 150 million tonnes. India’s production is just 4.6 million tonnes. Increase in consumption and demand could see a rise in production.
While there is a proposal to also create a Mumbai metro station using bamboo, it may be noted that the interiors of Terminal-2 of Kempegowda International Airport have been done using bamboo, and the walls and flooring of the new Parliament House house in New Delhi are also made with bamboo.