Bengaluru: At last, Metro work resumes after long delay due to Corona

♦ Larsen & Toubro is undertaking underground work from Vellara Junction to Pottery Town.

♦ ITD Cementation India Ltd is in charge of building the 4.6km underground section between Tannery Road and Nagawara.

♦ Afcons Infrastructure will build the 3.7km underground corridor from Dairy Circle to Langford Town.

♦ Changes in deadline due to CORONA lockdown

♦ Mysore Road-Kengeri (Purple Line), Deadline before COVID: November 2020 but now it has postponed to February 2021

♦ Yelachenahalli -Anjanapura (Green Line), Deadline before COVID was August 2020 but it has postponed to November 2020

♦ Baiyyappanahalli -Whitefield (Purple Line) Deadline before COVID was 2021 end but it has postponed to June 2022

♦ Nagasandra-Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (Green Line), Deadline before COVID was 2021 end but it has postponed to January 2022

♦ Bommasandra- RV Road (Yellow Line), Deadline before COVID was 2021 end but it has postponed to March 2022

♦ Gottigere – Nagawara), Deadline before COVID was 2023 end but it has postponed to June 2024

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has finally begun its long pending tunnelling work, the city's longest underground Metro section between Dairy Circle and Nagawara (14km).

The corporation claims that land acquisition issues are yet to be resolved because the entire 14-km project is part of Reach 6 (Namma Metro Phase 2) network and the BMRCL had floated tenders for its construction in July 2017. The plan to build an underground line between Dairy Circle and Nagawara in view of the population density, railway lines and buildings.

"The work was delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic. Now the work has been commenced. As of now, 96 percent of the land acquisition has been completed along the underground section of this corridor between Dairy Circle and Nagawara. Also, defense authorities are yet to provide land for the Langford Town station (2,137sqm on a permanent basis and 5,866sqm on a temporary basis)," BMRCL official said.

The reports confirm that local military authorities have sent the proposal to the headquarters and waiting for the green signal. The agency has also not acquired around 1,800 sqm land on a temporary basis from the All Saints Church for the Vellara Junction (Rashtriya Military School) station because of opposition from some church members.

BMRCL records show land acquisition of the much-delayed like Phase 2 lines Yelachenahalli-Anjanapura, RV Road- Electronics City and Byappanahalli-Whitefield have almost been completed. Similarly, 99.9 per cent of land acquisition on the Nagasandra-BIEC section and 98.4 per cent on Mysuru Road-Kengeri line.

As per the mobility experts, the present underground section, which has a deadline of June 2024, is now expected to carry 4 lakh commuters on a daily basis. "As it is a pandemic situation the corporation has strictly ordered the workers and ensuring that precautionary measures are being followed.

We are also facing certain limitations such as the supply chains for cement, steel and other raw materials are not fully operational. We have taken these factors into consideration and planning accordingly" Official added.