Legal Body: Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit Ltd (BMRTL)
Chairman: Anil Bajijal, Union Urban Development Secretary
Managing Director: Mr. V. Madhu
Executive Director: Mr. M.S. Nagendra (Administration), Mr. Y. Rajendra (Finance)
Board of Directors: 5 from Central Government, 5 from State Government
Participants: State and Central Governments
Report prepared by: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
Routes: East-West (18.1 km) & North-South (14.9 km) Corridors
Total length of project: 33 km 42.3 km
Type: Elevated and underground
Number Of Stations: 32
Project Start Date: March 2005, June 2005, July 2005, August 2005
Going Live: Mid-2007, October 2008, October 2009, December 2011 (Phase I)
Number Of Commuters Per Day: 820,000
Proposed Fare: 1.33-1.66 times the bus fares. Annual escalation fares at 4%
Cost/Km Underground: Rs 250 crore
Cost/Km Elevated: Rs 80 crore
Total Cost: Rs 4998 crore, Rs 5606 crore, Rs 6207 crore, Rs 6400 crore, Rs 8100 crore
Fund Formula:
- State: Rs 1807 cr
- Centre/Federal: Rs 1447 cr
- Financial Institutions: Rs 2953 cr
Interest rate: Approx 8.75% for a 15 year term loan, line of credit form insurance companies and provident fund agencies comes for 25 years at 9% interest.
Ground-level preparations for the ambitous metro rail project in Bangalore are being made with the State Government frezing development activity in 247 premises and buildings it had tentatively identified for this purpose. The govt has asked the Bangalore City Corporation, BDA and other civic bodie to seek a no-objection certifcate (NoC) from the BMRTL before it approves any construction activity.
Bangalore Metro will have a standard gauge and will take cover under the 100-year old Mysore Tramways Act, which will require some amendments by the state goverment to suit the present day needs. With this, BMRTL can avoid going to the railway ministry for all sanctions.
Some of the space which is going to be claimed by BMRTL for the project are as follows:
- 4,126 sq mt of Central Bus Sand in Majestic.
- On MG Road the project will use 14 sq mt of Nalli Silks and 25 sq mt of Land Mark building.
- 210 sq mt of IOC petrol bunk near Trinity Circle.
- Trinity Complex, Megdooth Motors, Police Quarters on Ulsoor Road.
- Part of Govt Kannada Primary School at Srirampuram, Govt Urdu School at Chickpet.
- 74 sq mt of Bangalore Hospital on RV Road.
- 4,320 sq mt of Mysore Mills behind Maharaja Mills.
- 119,000 sq mt of private industry land on Tumkur Road.
Work on Phase I was yet to begin [as of Nov 2004] but the government had already announced the plans for Phase II. We call this "good vision".
- Total length of project: 50 km
- Will connect the two technology hubs of Electronic city and International Tech Park in Whitefield.
- Project Start Date: 2009
- Type: Elevated
Monorail is very expensive and the return on investment [ROI] is very low. Mono Rail system costs Rs 120 crore per km, against Metro Rail's Rs 75 crore per km. Mtro Rail had a capacity to carry 45,000-50,000 passengers per hour, while Mono Rail can carry only 10,000-12,000 passengers per hour.
The management of laying the foundation caps and raising columns for girders will have a bearing on the time taken to complete the 36-km metro rail. The construction is supposed to cause minimal inconvenience to citizens. Erection of a girder requires at least seven days. Executive engineer Yashavanth Chavan said, "The process begins with BMRTL acquiring 3.5 metres from the centre of the road, on either side. Once we have a barricaded square, we will construct a 'bored cast in pile', which basically acts as a foundation for girder columns.We dig in four 15 metre deep holes and fill them with reinforced steel and concrete. These will act as four legs for a slab called the pile cap. The pile is earthquake resistant."
The construction of the metro columns would be done in two-km stretches and traffic would be affected for two to three months at a time. There will be 18 columns every two km. Since only seven metres of the main road are occupied, traffic will not be affected. In the piling stage, work will begin in the evenings. The columns will be transported from the off-site area and set up at night. Each column 1.5 metres wide and 5.5 metres high is laid.
BMRTL has, in principle, finalised the land acquisition deal with the Ministry of Defence (MoD). As per the agreement, nearly 102 acres of defence land has been acquired for the metro project at the cost of Rs 1.13 crore. This was in lieu of the 57 acres released earlier by the MoU to the BMRTL for the ELRTS project. The agreement was reached following a meeting on June 27, 2005 which was attended by the Chairman and Joint Secretary of MoD P K Rastogi, Additional Financial Advisor of MoD Dipali Khanna and Mr Shrivastava.
The defence areas acquired include 100 acres of Peenya Plantation and half an acre each of army land on Old Madras Road, Army-based workshop on SV Road and inside Maneckshaw Grounds.
Tax For Private Vehicles
The Metro Rail may substantaily ease the traffice on some roads. BMRTL has proposed a number of measures, including imposing entry tax on private vehicles and restricting of three-wheelers on certain roads. Other items include,
- Entry tax on private vehicles on certain roads
- Parking fee substantially hiked on certain raods
- No three-wheelers permitted on certain roads
- City bus corridors shall not run paralled to Metro corridors
- Intercity buses to termiante at city outskirts
- Public parking will be provided at major Metro stations
- Feeder bus services will be provided at Metro stations
- Common ticketing will be introduced for Metro and feeder buses
Underground Tunnels
By May 2008 the 9.15 km underground tunnel, which forms the crucial part of Metro alighment on the North-South and East-West corridors will be commissioned. BMRCL will float the global tenders for design and construction by Jan 2008. The tunnel will be completed in 33 months (approximately by September 2011). Phase I is expected to go live by December 2011.
There will be twin tunnels that will allow trains to ply in opposite directions. Big players in the rail industry wil form consortia and participate in the tenders. The tunnel will cost the BMRCL Rs 1,250 crore (as of December 2007) which will have seven stops on both North-South and East-West corridors.
On North-South route the stops would be,
- Majestic Interchange Stations
- Chikpet
- City Market
On East-West route the stops would be,
- Majestic Interchange Stations
- Central College opposite Court complex
- Vidhana Soudha near MS Building
- Minst Square
At Majestic Interchange, the trains will criscross each other, with East-West corridor trains running above North-South corridor trains, which will be 20 metres below earth surface. There will be a concourse to allow passenger movement - exit and entry, change of trains assisted by elevators and escalators.
On the Nort-South corridor, the 4.5 km underground tunnel will start at Swastic Theatre near Seshadripuram and emerge out at Victoria Hospital near City Market. The East-West underground corridor will run up to4.65 km that will begin at the KSCA Cricket Statium near MG Road and end at the Leprosy Hospital behind City Railway Station.
BMRCL has assured the public that the work will not hit ground water. Global consultants and IISc are conducting studies to track the water table, utility lines and other geophysical features like soft earth and rock. The Metro tunnels will be fully secured from leakage of ground water into the tunnel area because of a special lining that will be constructed inside.
