Choked by legal hassles Metro Phase 2 sputters

Namma Metro Phase 1 was riddled with delays and hurdles and it looks as if Phase 2 is in for a similar line of hold-ups. A number of firms in Whitefield approaching the court and obtaining a stay on the land acquisition process for the Whitefield extension. Residents near the RV Road line are up in arms about the number of trees and playgrounds that will be lost to the city (these civic amenities have been earmarked for acquisition also in Cantonment and Shivajinagar) and have approached the National Green Tribunal. As the BMRCL blunders its way into Phase 2, facing flak from all sides, it seems as if they haven’t learned from their past mistakes.

As the Metro Rail tries to make an inroad into the industrial and software corridor of the city with Phase 2 of the project, it has come up against a legal hurdle with  two companies  approaching the courts and bringing  a stay over the land acquisition for the Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield extension.

IFB Industries Limited and Bangalore Petroleum and Chemicals are not willing to part with their land, which the BMRCL needs for the Visveswaraiah station viaducts. This has slowed down the building of the Metro over the 15.5 km Phase-1 extension. With the Metro construction in  limbo, traffic jams have become the norm in areas where the roads have already been dug up to lay its tracks.

“It takes two whole hours to go from Varthur to Marathahalli, when it should take only 20 minutes. There are bound to be hiccups like land issues in such projects, but alternative solutions should have been put  in place before starting the work. People of Whitefield are really fed up. We need nothing short of a revolution to wake the authorities up," said Ms Anjali Saini of Whitefield, adding, " It is very stressful to travel between work and home. Also as our children go all the way from Koramangala to schools in Varthur and Whitefield,  they need to leave very early to beat the traffic. The Metro should not have begun work until the railway line was quadrupled." 

Meanwhile, the battle between Jayanagar residents and BMRCL over the axing of trees in the Lakshman Rao Park, for the RV Road station in Phase-1of the project is being replayed in Phase 2 with the 18.82 km RV-Bommasandra line meeting the existing RV Road Metro station on the green line.

“A few months ago we approached the National Green Tribunal to prevent the loss of trees in Lakshman Rao park, but have still not received clarity from Metro officials on how much of the park will actually go. They have deviated from their Environment Impact Assessment and we don't know how many trees will be axed. This project needs to be stopped and reviewed,” insisted Mr Vinay Sreenivasa of the civic group, Hasiru Usiru, clearly not convinced by BMRCL’s assurance that the viaducts (pillars) will be adjacent to the road and on the footpath, and only partly in the park area. 

The BMRCL’s decision to take over the Madina playground for building the Cantonment Metro Station has got it into trouble as well.

One of the locals opposing the plan, Mr Rajkumar, claims there has been zero consultation with the people. “They have not released  drawings or designs to show how the playground will be restored,” he regretted.

With the protests growing louder, the soil testing that had  begun on this stretch of the 21.25 km Gottigere-Nagawara line, has come to a full stop. 

Not too far away, opposition is growing to the plan to use another playground and school for the Shivajinagar Metro station too with the school authorities claiming that  no notice was served to them and listing out the many reasons why they cannot move.

Pointing out that the delays led to an increase in the price of construction material and pushed up the cost of Phase 1 of the Metro Rail,  Mr Srinidhi Sampath, a member of the Praaja RAAG advocacy group, laments that Phase 2 appears to be going the same way. 

Anjanapura depot faces jumbo problem 
Namma Metro, which is spending around Rs 6,000 crore for  acquisition of 250 acres for Phase 2 of the project, is facing the biggest hurdles with acquiring land for its depots rather than its lines. The depots are an essential part of the project as without them the trains cannot run.

Going by the August 2017 newsletter uploaded by the BMRCL on its website, a joint measurement sketch and a draft notification have been completed for the Kothnur depot on the Gottigere-Nagwara line  and sent to the Special Land Acquisition Officer for his approval, but the matter is still pending before the high court 

The newsletter also reveals that the Anjanapura depot design on its south extension, near Kanakapura, is being changed as it was interfering with an elephant corridor. “The forest department did not agree to provide the land and so we are working on a new land plan for the depot on the opposite side now,” said land acquisition officer, Channappa Goudar.

The BMRCL has, meanwhile, kept its fingers crossed for the 58 acres of forest land it needs from the  forest department for the Kadugodi depot on the Silk Board- KR Puram stretch with its request now pending clearance by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The corporation has, however, been able to get the land it needs for the Hebba godi depot  on the RV Road-Bomma sandra line after some opposition.

"Gopalan Enter prises had some barren land, which the Metro needed for the Hebbagodi depot. The issue was taken to court but is now resolved,” said Mr Goudar.

 “The area is on a low level near Hebbagodi lake and is quite slushy due to discharge from the nearby sewage treatment plant. The BMRCL is working on filling it with earth, before beginning depot construction,” Mr Goudar explained.

Fortunately, the BMRCL has faced no legal hurdles for the land required for the fifth depot at  Challaghatta on the Mysore Road- Kengeri extension of Phase-1 and so notification of properties over 10 acres and joint measurement is in progress for the depot land, according to the newsletter. 

Metro

Time frame, cost estimates unrealistic, BMRCL hasn’t learned from mistakes, says Sanjeev Dyamnavar, transport expert from Praaja RAAG
Namma Metro is repeating the mistakes it made with Phase-1. It should have  begun notification and land acquisition soon after the Detailed Project Report(DPR) was approved by the Cabinet in 2014 as mega projects like these are bound to face high court stays over acquisition issues. Afterall, this happened in Indiranagar, Ulsoor, Sandal Soap Factory,  and in Majestic in Phase 1. Going by this experience it should have acted with more urgency for the next phase. 

As the state government revises land rates every year, if  people are notified by the Metro in time, they can go ahead and make plans for their properties, whether they be commercial or residential. But when they are not informed in advance about future acquisition, it becomes an issue when the actual process begins.

Also, if it has such acquisition issues with other departments like the Railways, the BMRCL should take the help of Ministers and MPs, who represent Bengaluru, to resolve them. Instead it  shifted the Cantonment Metro station recently. It has, in fact, made even more mistakes with this phase by waiting for funds to be released and by not calling for tenders for the Gottigere-Nagawara line until the European Investment Bank gave clearance for the funding this year. 

The state and Union governments should have ensured clarity on funding while approving the DPR instead of expecting the BMRCL to raise loans from the market when it doesn’t have large assets of  its own. Namma Metro also made a huge blunder by not starting work immediately. Sadly, even 42 months after the plan for Phase 2 was approved, it still has not started on either of the two lines. Even the extensions  of Phase-1 have not been completed. 

Moreover, the estimates made of the time frame and cost  were also unrealistic. The corporation can’t declare that such a large project will be completed in three years with the limited amount of money at its disposal. As the project has imported components, its cost is bound to be high, and this in turn will impact its progress.

The state and Centre need to have monthly follow -ups and review meetings for a project of this scale and ensure that land acquisition is fast tracked. To sum up, Namma Metro must tackle land acquisition first and have a realistic estimate of funding and the time needed to complete the project.