Eye on Bengaluru ahead of Karnataka polls: At 6 km/year, Namma Metro on super slo-mo track

The crucial tech corridors in India’s IT capital such as Outer Ring Road, Sarjapur Road, Domlur and Koramangala are yet to be connected by metro.

Twelve years after South India's first metro network started, the Namma Metro network in Bengaluru covers 68.6 kilometres. That works out to an average addition of barely 6 km every year since 2011.

The crucial tech corridors in India’s IT capital such as Outer Ring Road, Sarjapur Road, Domlur and Koramangala are yet to be connected by metro.

In contrast, the Delhi Metro, which has been operational since 2002, runs a 349 km network (17 km per annum). The Hyderabad metro, which started in 2017, already boasts of a 67 km network (11 km/year).

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For a city with more than 10 million registered vehicles and an average speed of 10-18 kmph during peak hours, a well-connected metro network is the need of the hour. The Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) prepared by the Karnataka government envisages setting up a 317 km metro rail network in Bengaluru by 2031. Going by the pace of work, it is unlikely to reach the target.

In November 2022, the state government approved two Metro Phase 3 corridors: JP Nagar 4th Phase-Kempapura along Outer Ring Road West (32.1km) and Hosahalli-Kadabagere along Magadi Road (12.5 km). However, the Union government is yet to approve both corridors. In July 2022, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) awarded the contract to prepare a project report for a 37 km metro line connecting Sarjapur and Hebbal in the north through Agara, Koramangala and Dairy Circle in Phase 3. While the Hebbal-Koramangala stretch will be underground, the remaining will be elevated. The report is yet to be prepared.

There has been no progress on three corridors: Inner Ring Metro (underground), Whitefield-Domlur, and Sarjapur Road-Katamnallur Gate near Hoskote.

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BMRCL officials said the project report for the Inner Ring Metro, which was suggested by the Indian Institute of Science, connecting Yeswantpur-Indiranagar-Domlur- Koramangala-Ashoka Pillar-Mahalakshmi Layout will be prepared next.

Insufficient network

Experts criticised the slow pace of expansion by the Bangalore Metro. “In Delhi, we built 66 km of the metro first phase in seven years, which translates to 9 km/annum. We completed the second phase of 124 km in five years, which is 25 km per year,” E Sreedharan, who was managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation from 1995 to 2012, told Moneycontrol.

Sreedharan, known as India’s Metro Man, said for every 100,000 people, at least 1 km of metro is required.

“So the current network is insufficient in Bengaluru, which has a population of more than 1 crore (10 million). They (Bengaluru Metro) don't seem to want my advice. All Metro rail MDs have full powers but they should make use of the power to expand the network without delays,” he said.

Metro rail activists are unhappy over the delays. According to Naveen Prasanna, a techie and metro enthusiast, it takes at least nine years for a metro rail project to take-off: one year to prepare a project report, two years to get approvals, one year for the tender process, and five years for construction.

“While the 72 km Bengaluru Metro Phase 2 was approved in 2014, it  got delayed due to various issues including land acquisition and tree-felling permissions,” he said.

One of the project reports for the Central Silk Board-KR Puram (2A) and KR Puram-Kempegowda International Airport lines had to be reworked because the new metro rail policy was introduced just a year after it had been prepared. Prasanna said unless the metro agency resolves interdepartmental issues, it is unlikely to meet the targeted network on schedule.

Cases against Metro

BMRCL often cites delays in getting tree-felling permission for the slow pace of work. However, the environmentalist who filed a public interest litigation (PIL) against tree cuttings denies this.

“There were land acquisition and design issues. In fact, they didn’t even have a proper project management system. The choice of contractors was also wrong. These are critical issues, but they often blame PILs for the slow pace of work. Had they followed the appropriate legal requirements when it comes to tree felling, these delays would not have happened in the first place,” said Dattatraya T Devare, who filed the PIL.

Commuter railway activist Sanjeev Dyamannavar said: “Bengaluru Metro got everything wrong – from the design and planning to the execution. In 2014, the 72 km Phase 2 line was approved, but not even a single standalone metro line has been completed so far. All they have managed to operate so far is the extension lines but new corridors like RV Road-Bommasandra and Kalena Agrahara (Gottigere)-Nagawara sections have not been completed yet.”

He said the Bengaluru Metro can operationalise an average of 10-20 km of new sections every year.

“But there is a clear lack of planning. The KR Pura-Byappanahalli Metro section is not yet commissioned, so the recently launched Whitefield-KR Pura is not useful. Now, they are facing a shortage of rolling stock (train sets) so the frequency will further come down once they complete the entire Purple Line corridor (Kengeri-Whitefield). There is also no clarity on the rolling stock status for the Bommasandra-RV Road corridor,” he said.

Higher costs

BMRCL managing director Anjum Parwez was unavailable for comment. In November 2022, he promised that the city will have a 175 km metro network by June 2025. However, the deadline for the Outer Ring Road- Kempegowda International  Airport Metro corridor was quietly postponed to 2026.

Designed my first transit map!

"Metro Map 2025" - a schematic representation of #NammaMetro's under-construction network.

Comments? pic.twitter.com/IB3XYPqNEW

— Nihar Thakkar (@nihart1024) March 31, 2023

“Sourcing funds, land acquisition, financial crisis of contractors, coordination issues with multiple departments, Covid and the lockdown caused major delays,” a senior BMRCL said.

For each day that the metro is delayed, according to experts, the cost rises by about Rs 1.5 crore. The estimated cost of Bengaluru Metro's Phase 2 increased to Rs 30,695 crore in 2018 from Rs 26,405 crore in 2012 and may go up further due to delays.

According to a recent plan prepared by the state government to make Karnataka a $1 trillion economy, there will be metro access within 1-2 km of the average citizen's home/place of work by 2032.

The two new metro corridors proposed are: Old Airport Road, from MG Road to Hope Farm via Marathahalli and Whitefield (16 km) and Nagawara-Kempegowda International Airport via Thanisandra/Bhartiya City (25 km).

BMRCL officials said the first priority is to take up the corridors envisaged in the CMP. "We will take up work on other corridors based on the financial and technical feasibility. The Union government's approval is also crucial,” an official said.

Note to readers: This is the fourth article in a series on Bengaluru ahead of Karnataka polls on May 10.

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