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Bangalore Metro work on hold, BMRCL says 'not guilty'

Space Work on a part of Namma Metro has been stalled for a month now, owing to the tussle between the Metro authorities and South Western Railway (SWR).

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Space Work on a part of Namma Metro has been stalled for a month now, owing to the tussle between the Metro authorities and South Western Railway (SWR).

About a month ago, work of Namma Metro on Platform Road came to a standstill after the SWR demanded that the BMRCL pay up the amount that was due to them for acquisition of land. While the BMRCL claimed that the land was only a cut and cover kind of work and thus only Rs44 crore was payable to the railways, the SWR argued that there will be restrictions on what kind of work can be carried out on this land and so the calculations were based on that.

The BMRCL had to pay a total of Rs219 crore, of which Rs94 crore had already been paid. The SWR has been demanding that the remaining Rs125 crore be paid in full before the BMRCL can begin crucial work in the area.

The BMRCL had, in a statement issued a few days later, stated that the chief secretary of the government had requested the SWR to allow the BMRCL to continue work in the area and also said that the work would continue till a formal communication was made from the general manager of the SWR.

The divisional railway manager had said that if the BMRCL wanted to continue work, only minor work could be done till the issue was sorted out. “The state government can only request and cannot issue a directive to the railways. I do not have the authority to allow the BMRCL to work on railway land until they pay the fee that is due,” said S Mani, DRM.

They knew it all: SWR
What surprises the DRM now is that the BMRCL knew exactly what the dispute was and in a meeting with the quarter officer and the managing director of the BMRCL N Sivasailam, on April 13, it was decided that the work would continue only after the dispute was settled.

Nevertheless, the BMRCL MD claims that it was only preparatory works that were initiated recently.

“Our machines that have been there for the last three months were idle. We need to prepare the ground before regular work to build the shaft, which is 22-metre deep, can commence. We have not even removed the hoardings, which has to be done
before we can begin work,” he clarified.

He said that the work had been put on hold now. When asked if there will be any more discussions with the railways to sort out the dispute, he said,

“The matter is already with the state government. I have done my work.”

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