The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) has announced that it has made modifications in the design of the proposed underground Rashtriya Military School station (formerly Vellara Junction) for which it needed to acquire additional land belonging to All Saints’ Church.
For several years, citizens’ groups and environmentalists have been opposing the acquisition on the the grounds that the plot of land was a “serene sacred grove”.
To minimise the land to be acquired, BMRCL has made a slight modification to the design of the proposed underground station. “We have reduced the length of the station, and the shaft will have a vertical shape instead of a horizontal one as planned earlier. System rooms will be shifted to the other side of the station. These changes have helped minimise land acquisition and the church authorities too have agreed to this,” said BMRCL MD Anjum Parwez.
According to sources, BMRCL had initially planned to acquire additional land of 3,800 square meters for metro construction works and entry box. The change in the plan has reduced the land requirement to 226 square metres of land. The change in plan will also help save trees located on the premises of the church,” said an official.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Conservator of Forest of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has issued a public notice regarding the removal of seven trees on the premises of the church. As per the previous plan, over 30 trees inside the campus would have reportedly been removed.
The acquisition of the land received opposition from various quarters including the congregation of the church and environmental activists. They had raised concern over loss of green cover and damaging the structures. “For over four years, the issue of land acquisition could not be resolved. By doing so, we have cleared all major hurdles of land acquisition for the underground metro line from Dairy Circle to Nagawara,” an official said.
Tender floated for 72 coaches
The BMRCL has floated a tender to procure 72 new coaches (12 train sets of six cars). The new coaches are required to start commercial operations on the new metro lines. Sources in BMRCL described the tender for induction 72 coaches as a “backup plan” as the previous contract to procure 216 coaches from China’s CRRC Corporation Ltd. failed to make any headway. In 2019, the company had received a contract but failed to supply the coaches as per schedule.
“As far as CRRC is concerned, BMRCL had given the order for the procurement of 216 coaches. Till now they have not met any of the conditions of the tender. We should have received the coaches as per the tender conditions,” said a source.
He added that they wanted to cancel the tender, but the firm obtained a stay order from the court. “We appraised the court about the metro project and requirement of coaches to start commercial operations. CRCC has been given two month time to meet the tender condition. We do not know what the company will do in future,” said the source, adding that to be on the safe side, BMRCL has floated a tender to procure 72 coaches. “We have taken this decision in the interest of the general public.” BMRCL is aiming to open metro lines connecting two IT corridors Whitefield and Electronics City by the end of this year.
