BENGALURU: Chikkajala and Bettahalasur -- the two stations added late to the Bengaluru Metro’s Airport Line -- have been dropped due to lack of funds. While the cost for the Chikkajala station is Rs 130 crore, for Bettahalasur it is Rs 140 crore.
The Airport Line has 17 stations along its 36.44-km network and the twin stations were proposed between Bagalur Cross and Doddajala stations. They were added because of pressure from different quarters after the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for this Phase-2B line was approved by the state cabinet in January 2019.
A senior Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd official said, “The cost-sharing by the state and Centre for all Metro projects will not apply to the two stations as they were not part of the original DPR.”
The state’s high-powered committee had given its nod to the Chikkajala station. “Local residents had demanded the station. But Rs 130 crore was to come from the state government alone,” the official added.
The funding proposal has been pending with the Urban Development Department for over a year now. “The government does not seem inclined to fund it, given its precarious financial position now,” another official said. “BMRCL has gone ahead and continued laying the viaduct. It has carried out other construction activity along the originally proposed route in the DPR,” he explained.
The official alleged, “A local MLA, who wanted the cost of his land in Chikkajala to soar, had brainwashed the residents that a Metro station was crucial. As of now, it does not seem like the state government is willing to fund it fully.”
Embassy flip-flop
Meanwhile, Embassy Group, which mooted the Bettahalasur station as it would offer connectivity to the residents of its sprawling Embassy Boulevard Complex, is not showing any interest in extending funds. “This station will not be part of the Airport Line network anymore,” another top official said. “We are trying to convince them to fund it though,” he added.
Embassy Group had signed an agreement with BMRCL in April 2020 to fund the station. It later backed out and BMRCL said it was dropping the station in December 2022. “In July 2023, Embassy Group again expressed its keenness to finance the station and signed an MoU to bear the Rs 140 crore cost. A token sum of Rs 1 crore too was paid,” he added.
4th train set for Yellow Line reaches Mumbai port
The fourth train set for the Yellow Line from RV Road to Bommasandra from China reached Mumbai Port some days ago. “The shell of the coaches has arrived along with multiple parts and they need to be integrated at Titagarh Rail Systems in Kolkata for the Communications Based Train Control system or driverless technology,” a top Metro official said.
“While one train set is on trial on the line in Bengaluru now, two train sets are getting ready at Titagarh,” he added. The unavailability of train sets is holding up the operation along the completed Yellow Line.