Deadlines for new lines: ORR line trial run by October, full Pink Line by March 2027
Bengaluru: In his first review meeting of the Namma Metro project on Friday, Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda blamed “mismanaged” metro worksites for Bengaluru’s “visual disfigurement” and some of its severe traffic congestion.
He also set fresh timelines for opening some new lines but conceded that the deadlines could still go unmet given the BMRCL’s “notorious” track record.
The nearly three-hour meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister, Tushar Girinath, BMRCL Managing Director J Ravishankar and other senior officials.
Gowda, who took charge last Tuesday, was blunt in his assessment of BMRCL, saying it had never met or even come close to meeting a deadline since the foundation stone for the first metro line was laid 25 years ago.
At the meeting, he pulled up BMRCL officials and said the delays were inexplicable. “This culture has to change. This is an engineering challenge… there’s nothing impossible in engineering.”
Criticising worksite mismanagement, Gowda added: “Your contractors take it for granted to take as much space, cause as much disruption and for as long as they want. And you don’t enforce worksite management. Instead of three or four years, you’re taking six or seven years (to complete a metro line).”
Later, speaking to reporters, he said metro construction had unnecessarily occupied road space, while debris and materials dumped at sites had contributed to traffic congestion, garbage black spots and flooding. He asked BMRCL to explore alternative work sites.
Responding to a question from DH, Gowda acknowledged some improvement at metro worksites along the Outer Ring Road (ORR). “Road space taken for the work and debris dumping have reduced but they still occupy one portion of the road, from Veerannapalya to Hebbal,” he noted.
The minister set a new timeline for the full opening of the 21.26-km Pink Line, which will link Kalena Agrahara to Nagavara.
On long-awaited metro connectivity to the ORR tech hub, Gowda said he had directed BMRCL to begin trial runs on the KR Puram-Marathahalli and Marathahalli-HSR Layout stretches by October 2026. He noted that Marathahalli and Silk Board stations would be delayed due to pending works. The 19.75-km line from KR Puram to Silk Board, which falls under Phase 2A, will open about five months later, he said.
