BENGALURU: The commuters from Mysore Road to Byappanahalli, and Nagasandra to Puttenahalli can expect to travel easy soon with Namma Metro ready to start operations in these areas within the next six months.
“The entire East-West corridor (Mysore Road to Byappanahalli stations) of Namma Metro will be ready
for commercial operations by the end of December this year while the North-South Corridor (Nagasandra to Puttenahalli Metro stations) of Namma Metro will be ready by March 31, 2016,” said Pradeep Singh Kharola, Managing Director of BMRCL.
When asked if Metro Phase I, covering a total of 42.30 km, will overshoot the proposed March 2016 deadline, he said, “It will be ready by March 31.”
“There could be delays in the tunnelling work. It is definitely going to be a challenging task. Our priority is to ensure safety and proceed slowly so that no damage is done to any building,” added Kharola.
He said the stretch from RV Road station to Puttenahalli station will be ready by January. The Centre and the State are bearing the expenses of Namma Metro’s Phase I, which has escalated to `13,000 crore from `11,000 crore.
Sixty per cent of the owners have also been notified about their properties which will be acquired for Phase II. Subways will be constructed at Jalahalli, Nagasandra and Peenya Industry to facilitate access to these stations, he added.
However, Kharola refused to respond to the recent comments by Metro Man E Sreedharan accusing Namma Metro officials of having an ego problem.