Hit by a new hurdle, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), on Monday, sought police assistance to carry out metro project work on the land acquired from NICE in Electronics City.
In a complaint addressed to the Deputy Commissioner of South East and the jurisdictional police station, the BMRCL Deputy Chief Engineer in charge of the work has alleged that representatives of NICE are obstructing metro work.
“As progress of work in the said area is of prime importance to complete the metro project, it is requested to provide the necessary police assistance to continue with the work,” states the complaint.
An official of the BMRCL said, “As per the rules, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB), the agency acquiring land for metro projects in the city, has handed over the NICE land to the BMRCL. When our people had gone there to carry out the project work, people from NICE objected. On Reach 6 (R.V. Road to Bommasandra), the BMRCL has achieved good progress of metro work barring a small stretch of NICE land. For close to four years, the BMRCL has faced several hurdles in acquiring the NICE load, which has made an impact on completion of the project in several reaches coming under Phase II. We do not know why they are troubling us despite following all the rules.”
Completion of the metro project on R.V. Road to Bommasandra stretch is crucial for the traffic choked areas around them that cater to the IT sector and other industrial areas. The BMRCL is building three intersection stations on the stretch at R.V. Road, Jayadeva and Silk Board, which will help people reach other reaches of metro. A few weeks ago, the BMRCL completed demolition of Jayadeva flyover to build a station and road-cum-metro rail flyover.
The BMRCL had identified close to four acres of NICE land out of which 6,400 square metres are required to build a viaduct and metro station in Electronics City. Acquisition was delayed for various reasons, including compensation. The matter had reached the Chief Minister.
NICE denies allegations
NICE refuted the claim made by the BMRCL.
“We are surprised with the allegations made by the BMRCL. Issues pertaining to acquisition of NICE land for metro projects have been resolved. The court had directed them to acquire the land after issuing notifications. We want them to follow the due course of law,” said a spokesperson of NICE.
