Just days before the scheduled launch of Namma Metro on Ugadi day, April 4, there is now clarification that the launch date will be put off again, by at least three months.
Just days before the scheduled launch of Namma Metro on Ugadi day, April 4, there is now clarification that the launch date will be put off again, by at least three months. MN Sreehari, advisor to the state government on infrastructure and transportation, who is also part of the panel formed by the Agenda for Bengaluru
Infrastructure Development (ABIDe) that monitors the progress of the metro, said, “The work will take another month, and tests and inspections by the Commissioner for Railway Safety (CRS) will take at least another month. The launch of the metro is most likely after three months, by July 2011.”
There was, however, no official clarification from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) in regard to the delay in launching commercial operations. The chief minister, who was earlier keen on keeping the auspicious Ugadi date, also did not offer a statement.
KJS Naidu, commissioner for railway safety, south zone, said, “The BMRCL has to finish its work completely and then submit all the documents to call me for an inspection. Before that, every effort to open the metro would be futile.”
As DNA earlier reported, the BMRCL has failed to get clearances for the lifts, emergency exits and escalators installed in the six stations on Reach 1 from the Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services (KSFES). The clearances from the CRS were also missing; these are mandatory under law.
Meanwhile, even the Centre’s Metro Act of 2002 is set to be amended, as the Railway Designs and Standard Operations (RDSO), headquartered in Lucknow, which falls under the ministry of railways, has sought that clauses be added to this act.
On Thursday, MN Sreehari said, “BMRCL has now opened its eyes. It needs to take advice from both the state and the Centre.
The decision to delay the launch is a wise one, given that the BMRCL does not yet have a clearance from the CRS.” Sreehari also noted that the Centre is yet to make provision for the BMRCL; the Metro Tram Act of 1976, under which the BMRCL currently operates, was formulated at a time when broad gauge or meter gauge were the rule, and the metro is neither of those, Sreehari said.
Sreehari also pointed to the enormous losses incurred by the public exchequer as the project is repeatedly put off. “Each day that the metro launch is delayed means a loss of `50 lakh of public money,” he said, adding that, even so, public safety is not something that could be taken lightly.
In a letter to this newspaper, one reader, a resident of HSR Layout, expressed concern that the BMRCL was trying to speed up matters at the cost of safety. “In their exuberance about meeting the April 4 deadline, the BMRCL and the powers that be in the government should not compromise safety. It appears, from the media reports, that BMRCL is pressuring the CRS to finish his work before April 4.
I hope the CRS conducts systematic and detailed technical tests before issuing the safety certification. And the heavens will not fall if there is further delay in the metro project. The BMRCL ought to look to E Sreedharan of Delhi Metro for lessons. The metro cannot start services without first finishing all work on the stations. Any ongoing work after commercial operations begin could endanger passengers,” said Brigadier RS Murthy (retired).
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