When the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) opened part of Reach 1 of Namma Metro last month, it promised to open another portion (between Peenya and Swastik) in December 2012 amid much fanfare raising hopes of speedy completion of Phase 1.
A long haul
Bad news. Phase 1's 42.3-km route network km is unlikely to be completely operational before 2015. For, the crucial underground stretches might not be ready before December 2014. Bangaloreans, fed up of traffic-choked roads and rising petrol prices, can prepare themselves for a long haul.
Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath, launching Namma Metro's commercial services on October 20, had stated that Phase 1 will be complete by March 2014. The original deadline was September 2012.
No tenders yet
A reality check, however, suggests otherwise. Even though tunnelling for the East-West underground corridor has commenced from Majestic and the machines have burrowed about 600 and 300 metres respectively, the tenders for the crucial Majestic underground station are yet to be awarded.
This is a two-level station where the East-West (Byappanahalli-Mysore Road) and North-South (Hessarghatta Cross-Puttenahalli Cross) lines meet.
According to experts, construction of the cut and cover station will take at least two years. Majestic, which was once the Dharmambudhi tank area, could be time-consuming because of the high groundwater level.
Stations too
As for the North-South corridor, the 4-km tunnelling work in expected to commence only in September-October 2012 and it will go on for at least two years. And then there is work on the stations.
BMRCL had awarded the contract for the tunnelling and two stations to Tanstonnelsboy-Coastal Joint Venture in May 2011. Its November newsletter said the contractor has placed orders for three earth pressure balanced tunnel boring machines (TBMs), of which one will come from Seli, Italy, and two from Herenknecht, China. The machines are expected to arrive only by mid-2012 and their assembly will take at least a couple of months. This means that work will commence only in September-October, said an expert in underground tunnelling. Areas around Chickpet will be particularly challenging because of the groundwater level factor, he said.
If the work is executed without delay or glitches, the tunnelling can be completed within two years. It will take another six months for laying the tracks and providing ventilation/ air-conditioning, the expert said.
Therefore it is highly unlikely that BMRCL will operationalise Phase 1 before January 2015.
According to M.N. Sreehari, Adviser to Government of Karnataka on Transport and Infrastructure, “It looks rather unlikely that the work would be complete any time before mid-2015. These delays are actually resulting in an estimated loss of Rs. 65 lakh per day.”
