Chiranjeevi Kulkarni, DH News Service, Bengaluru, Aug 25 2017, 2:19 IST
BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said the issues had been resolved and the civil work began in June. Representation image
After a delay of four months, work on Namma Metro’s northern extension (from Nagasandra to BIEC) is gathering pace as land acquisition issues that had come in the way have been resolved.
Sources in the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) said that though the contractor, Simplex Infrastructures Ltd, was issued the work order in February, issues related to land acquisition near Jindal Aluminium Limited in Kirloskar Layout had delayed the civil work.
“It’s a small project of Rs 299 crore. But each day’s delay costs the BMRCL crores of rupees. Besides, the speedy completion of the project will help thousands of people who enter the city from Tumakuru Road.
“They can avoid traffic and reach different corners of the city within 30 minutes. But work has been stalled as the land was not handed over to the contractor,” an official said.
BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said the issues had been resolved and the civil work began in June.
“It’s a small stretch of about three kilometres. The work order has been given. The road-widening will start in a few days. There were issues with the 800-metre frontage that belongs to Jindal Aluminium Limited. We have resolved them and the road-widening has already begun on the Jindal premises,” he added.
Sources said the delay was the result of a slight change in alignment. The Metro line was supposed to go on the service road boundary but was shifted by a few feet, into the Jindal frontage. This required the NHAI to first get the land from Jindal and hand it over to the BMRCL. The BMRCL is yet to get land on NICE Road, they said.
When contacted, a spokesperson for NICE said technical procedures had been completed and further talks were going on.
A BMRCL official said the land would be acquired soon and that the demolition work had been completed.
“The path has been cleared for the civil work to begin on a full scale. We are confident of completing the project much before the deadline,” the official added.
DH News Service