Metro phase II land acquisition by March 2016.

Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) is gearing up to complete land acquisition for phase II of the Metro project by the time phase I is ready. The process, which has already begun, will have to be completed in eight months.

On August 7, a high-powered committee meeting, chaired by the Chief Secretary, reviewed the progress of the project. Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee reportedly told BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola to focus on sticking to deadlines.

Phase II has six reaches of which four are extensions of the current reaches. New lines will be laid between R.V. Road and Bommasandra, and from Gottigere to Nagawara. The joint measurement of land from Bayappanahalli to Mahadevpura has been completed, and notification for land under the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Act has been issued for the land between Byappanahalli and Satya Sai Hospital. The notification for land from Satya Sai Hospital is being revised. In the extension for reach 2, the depot plan at Challaghatta has been finalised and the notification is being prepared. Joint measurement of land from Krishnaleela Park to Anjanapura Township in r,each 4 extension (Puttenahalli to Anjanapura) is under way.

For the new lines, BMRCL has issued notification for R.V. Road Terminal to Central Silk Board Station as well as submitted notification of land from Central Silk Board to Bommasandra, with a depot at Hebbagodi to the KIADB.

Phase II will be a major relief for the traffic clogged areas of Whitefield and Electronic City and was approved in 2010 by the State government. As a result, the project is being closely monitored by the Union and State governments. At the August 7 meeting, Mr. Kharola was instructed to speed up the process of land acquisition.


THE HINDU