Bengaluru Metro misses deadline seventh time, south will have to wait till April 2017

BENGALURU: The promised Rajyotsava gift to Bengaluru is not coming. Metro Phase 1 has overshot its seventh deadline. And, Bengaluru south will not be boarding it until April 2017.

Although only 15 metres of underground tunnelling is pending, it will take four months to complete the laying of tracks and concreting of the tunnel, said chief minister Siddaramaiah after he chaired a meeting to review the metro's progress on Wednesday.

Although work would be complete in January 2017, it would not be before April that it opens to the public, he said. When complete, Phase 1 - being built at a cost of Rs 13,800 crore - will have a carrying capacity of 15 lakh people. At present, the 33-km stretch is being used by 1.8 lakh commuters every day .

This month-end, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited will be floating tenders for the 16-km stretch between Electronics City and Whitefield. The 72-km Phase 2 will be completed before 2020, he said.

Siddaramaiah said that of the estimated Rs 24,600 crore required for Phase 2, 20 per cent will be from the state government's kitty while the Centre will pitch in with 20 per cent. The rest will be loaned from a French Development Agency (AFD).

On Phase 1 missing another deadline, urban evangelist V Ravichandar said it's been 10 years since metro work started. Construction has not gone beyond four km, on an average, per year. One should not announce it (deadline) when it cannot be delivered. We have to accept that we have a problem. Our desire to complete the metro should get quicker; otherwise promises do not count, he said.