South may get Metro extension first; west enters slow lane

BENGALURU: South Bengalureans, who were the last to enjoy Namma Metro connectivity under Phase I, might be the first to get an extended line in Phase II of the project. This is because the civil work on Kanakapura Road (Reach-4B) is moving faster than the one on Mysuru Road (Reach-2). Both have a deadline of December 2018.

In April 2015, IL&FS Engineering Construction Company won the contract to build a stretch of 3.95-km Metro line on Mysuru Road (called as Reach-2A).

In March 2016, Soma Enterprise won the contract to build the remaining 4.86-km stretch (Reach-2B) on Mysuru Road up to Challaghatta depot.

Although the construction of the 6.52-km line on Kanakapura Road was awarded to Nagarjuna Construction Company ( NCC) as late as in January 2016, progress of work on this stretch has been quicker than on Mysuru Road, say Metro officials.

In the tender document, the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) set a 27-month deadline to complete the extensions. While IL&FS has already missed the date by five months, Soma Enterprise has nine months and NCC seven months left to complete the project.

Apparently , this has also irked BMRCL. Sources indicated that managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola has pulled up the construction companies for the slow progress.

Speaking to ET, Kharola acknowledged that the progress of work on Mysuru Road is not as quick as on Kanakapura road. “Initially , IL&FS Ltd was slow as they faced difficulty in acquiring land for the pre-casting yard,“ he said. “Soma Enterprise is still going slow.We will do something,“ he said, without going into details.