BENGALURU: As a salute to the tremendous work played by its contractors and other support staff in completing the Mysuru Road-Kengeri Line, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) performed a unique gesture on the inaugural day on Sunday. In a first such initiative, 88 individuals most of them contract workers, were honoured by permitting them to travel on the first train flagged off by ministers at Nayandahalli.
While Union Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and CM Basavaraj Bommai took the second train departing from Nayandahalli due to a couple of speeches being delivered at the platform, the inaugural train chugged away at 10.30 am steered by women train operators B Gowthami and Smitha M Revanakar. The honour was cherished by the 88 staffers, including two women, who got on board. They were joined at stations en route by a few security personnel.
A Suresh Kumar, safety manager of Soma Infrastructure Limited, which carried out civil works for BMRCL, told The New Indian Express, “It was a big day for all of us. Personally, I had been working on the project for the last five years. My team and I have seen it take shape from scratch. So, to travel on the first train was very exciting and unforgettable for me and my team.”
C D Aljo, quality engineer of Starworth Infrastructure Corporation Limited, another civil contractor, said, “We took a ride upto the terminating station at Kengeri. It was a moment to cherish for all of us as the CM had himself flagged off this train. We had been eagerly waiting for the line to be launched and so it was a special day for us. Most of us kept taking selfies throughout the trip. “
J C Vijaykumar, assistant executive engineer, safety and health, in BMRCL’s electrical wing, co-ordinated with all the contractors and meticulously readied the list of staff for the first train well in advance. Apart from the two civil contractors, employees of Texmaco, IL & FS, Alstom, JLPL, L & T, ETA, OTIS, Alstom and AGS were on board the launch train.
BMRCL Managing Director Anjum Parwez said the decision to permit contract staff on board the first train was taken recently during a meeting of top officials. There were two reasons behind it. “One was of course that we did not want the train to chug away empty when it was flagged off and many en route would look out to wave to those on board. We wanted to send some people on board. The second reason was of course to honour their contribution to the success of the project.”
Director, Rolling Stock and Operations and Maintenance, BMRCL, N M Dhoke said, “Contract staff from Starworth interacted with me after the trip and conveyed their happiness to have got on board the first train.”