Cabinet nod likely for Metro on Outer Ring Road today

BENGALURU: The 17-km Rs 4.2k-cr Silk Board-KR Puram line to come up on an elevated corridor
Metro connectivity on the Outer Ring Road -connecting much of the city's IT corridor -is likely to get a formal approval from the state government today .

The 17-km, Rs 4,202-crore line will be on an elevated corridor and connect the Silk Board junction to Krishnaraja Puram. This line, referred to as Phase II (A), is expected to be ready in 2020.

Passing through the city's worst traffic-congested roads, the line has 13 stations: Silk Board junction, HSR Layout, Agara junction, Iblur junction, Bellandur, Kadubeesanahalli, Marathahalli junction, Isro, Doddanekundi, DRDO Sports Complex, Mahadevapura and KR Puram.

A top government official confirmed that the ORR metro proposal would be cleared by the state Cabinet on Wednesday . It will then be forwarded to the Centre for approval before tenders are floated.

The state government decided on Metro connectivity on the ORR after dilly dallying for several years on the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). Last October, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation ( BMRCL) prepared a Detailed Project Report using in-house resources in a record time of thirty days.

In its first attempt at innovative funding, the BMRCL is planning to raise between `1,000 crore `2,000 crore for this line.

“Other than the stations at KR Puram and the Silk Board junction, all the intervening stations will be above the road and requires minimal land space for entry. Provision will be made to extend this line further up to Hebbal,“ BMRCL said in the DPR.

The BMRCL would have to take over 23 private properties and eight government properties for the line. As many as of 1,412 trees (212 at the proposed stations and 1,200 on the road median) would be felled for the project.