BENGALURU: THE Detailed Project Report for the proposed Metro link to the Kempegowda International Airport has bypassed the August month deadline. While there is still a long way to go before the Airport link materialises, the good news is that the land for a small stretch along the National Highway is already in place.
Y V Prasad, Regional Officer at the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Bengaluru, said, a portion of land on the service road of National Highway between Esteem Mall and the Airport flyover is now ready on hand. The nearly 28-km airport link route, an extension of the Nagavara-Gottigere line of Phase-2 of Namma Metro, will run largely on the NH-44. The route from Nagawara will go via Ramakrishna Hegde Nagar, Jakkur and Yelahanka. It has a 2020 deadline.
“We had acquired the land nearly three years ago when the hi-speed airport link from MG Road to the Airport was in the pipeline. So, it is very much in our possession and will be handed over to BMRCL for its airport route when it releases the amount to us,” Prasad added.
M S Channapa Goudar, General Manager, Land Acquisitions Officer, BMRCL, confirmed that Metro will not have any problem for this stretch of land NHAI had obtained. “However, we still need to acquire land near Yelahanka and other areas. The details will be clear when the DPR is ready,” he said.
“The entire line will be elevated barring the portion at Yelahanka where the line will come up at the ground level instead of going underground,” Goudar added. This had been done in the interests of the safety of flights landing at the air force base, he said. “The Baiyappanahalli and Sampige Road Mantri Mall Metro Stations are the only ones in Phase-I where the concourse area of the stations open up at the grade level,” Goudar added.
The link route is estimated to cost `4,000 crore but the exact figure will be obtained only when the DPR is ready. It is being prepared in house by Metro with support from two concerns.
Asked about the DPR, BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said, “We will release it shortly.”