BENGALURU: With the Phase-I of Namma Metro heading towards a June 2016 launch deadline, an aspect that is going to hit commuters is that no facilities have been made for mobile connectivity for the entire underground corridor. The underground section that involves seven Metro stations covers 8.8 km of the 42.3-km Phase-I network.
What this means is that as a Metro train chugs from the elevated tracks onto the underground tracks, 60 feet below the ground level, network will lose connectivity.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola conceded that no infrastructure has been put in place for telecom connectivity. “Our priority is on completing the underground tunnel. Our focus is only on that now. Other amenities will be incorporated later,” he said.
When asked about how the infrastructure could be put in place after Metro gets functional in the corridor, he said telecom providers could be allowed to put in place infrastructure like laying of cables in the corridor in the night and early morning when Metro trains are not running. Temporary arrangements could be set up Kharola added.
General Manager (Finance) and Chief Public Relations Officer BMRCL, U A Vasant Rao said, “Our technical team is working towards providing mobile connectivity.” As of now, the nearly 1,500-strong workforce working in the underground corridors face a total cut-off from contact with the outside world when they go down to work.
“The need to provide mobile connectivity for the underground stations was discussed years ago and tenders were meant to be called long ago to choose telecom providers,” an official said. But it appears the process has been delayed.
While no provisions have been made on the elevated network too, the towers were internally adjusted. “This is enough temporarily as the passenger traffic is not high right now. But once Metro travel picks up, the towers will not be able to handle the mobile traffic,” the official said.
The status of the TBMs (as on January 5, 2016)
Godavari: Tunnelling from North Ramp to Kempegowda station. 549 mt over, 415.5 mt pending.
Krishna: Tunnelling from Chickpet to Kempegowda station. 4.5 mt completed, 740 m pending
Kaveri: Tunnelling between Chickpet and Kempegowda Metro station. 564 mt completed, 180 mt pending to reach Kempegowda station.
Margarita: Tunnelling work from Kempegowda Metro station to Sampige Road completed on November 7, 2015