Suburban rail first, ORR-Airport Metro next, say citizens

By Qamar ZJ

As the Centre is citing reasons of feasibility about the Rs 14,844 crore ORR-Airport Metro project, some residents are asking the government to give more priority to improving public bus transport and introduce suburban rail. Bangalore Environment Trust, Praja-RAAG and Citizens for Citizens wrote a joint letter to the Centre justifying their demand by saying that the IT firms along the Outer Ring Road (ORR) are going to have fewer people coming to offices even after COVID-19. You can read their detailed justification here. One such sentence reads: “We strongly feel that more than Metro, what Bengaluru needs is drastic and quick improvement of its bus services (BMTC) and also immediate final approval for the  much-delayed suburban train system.” 

The letter also argues that the residents are moving towards the city’s suburbs post-COVID and companies are asking more employees to work from home. Therefore, the residents reason that the congestion on ORR would reduce automatically. The letter reads: “With COVID norms in place which have imposed some limitations, there is an urgent need to assess the travelling capacity in Metro trains and improve other modes of public transport.” The group had shot off this letter to Hardeep Singh Puri, the Union Minister of Housing and Home Affairs when he announced in the parliament last month that the Metro rail approval could take some time as it depends on the feasibility of the project and the availability of resources.

While it is true that a Bus Rapid Transit System was mooted for Bangalore in 2012, it was replaced by the Metro as Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited’s (BMRCL) feasibility studies showed that a six-car Metro would meet both the immediate and future needs of people working and living between KR Puram and Silk Board along the ORR. However, the centre’s delay in approving the Rs 14,844 crore project has frustrated Bangaloreans. But some activists feel that the state government can begin the work from its funds, without waiting for any money from the Centre. Importantly, the BMRCL has already finished the long and painful job of acquiring land for the ORR line, and is now handing out compensation for taking over the land along the airport line.

The citizens are rooting for the improvement of bus services and a suburban rail first. They are referring to the 148-km suburban rail project that will operate along four corridors: KSR Bengaluru City-Devanahalli, Byappanahalli-Chikkabanavara, Kengeri-Cantonment-Whitefield, and Heelalige-Rajanukunte. Their reasoning is that much of the approvals are completed, and this project could be up and running much before the Metro. According to the Karnataka Infrastructure Development Enterprises (K-RIDE), the first priority corridor linking Majestic with Bangalore Airport would be ready by August 2022. However, the Rs 18,600 crore project that was later revised to Rs 15,767 crore, is now pending approval by the Prime Minister’s Office.  

“Never said ‘no’ to Metro”

While the letter by the three citizen groups asked for a quick reassessment of every public transport project in Bangalore, including the ORR-Metro, one of the three groups who wrote the letter clarified that they are not against the Metro. “We will be more than happy if the ORR Metro is approved,” says Rajkumar Dugar, Convenor, Citizens For Citizens (C4C). “The letter was essentially emphasising that the projects that are easily doable should be kickstarted right away, so we can see visible improvements in public transportation during our lifetime.”

Dugar explains the background behind writing such a letter. “Bengaluru is in ‘waiting’ mode for all public transport projects, be it the railways, Metro and even improvements to BMTC,” he says. “Unfortunately, there is no Unified Metropolitan Transportation Authority (UMTA); so the city suffers due to the lack of proper integration between these modes of public transport. Today, we have only about 40 kilometres of a functional Metro after 10 years. Work is so slow. At this stage, when the Union Minister states that the approval of ORR Metro will depend on the feasibility of the project and the availability of resources, we understood this as major grounds for further delay. Meanwhile, BMTC continues to languish and the Suburban rail project is also getting delayed.”

Waiting is not an option for Bengaluru anymore. Therefore, the three citizen groups requested for a “quick and comprehensive” review so that the multifarious reasons being given out for delays are stopped immediately. “We are not against ORR Metro. We will be the happiest with the government approval for it. Unfortunately, the Centre is giving grounds for further delay. Let us at least have improvements to BMTC and the final approval for suburban trains immediately. We hope there will be no grounds for delay on these much-needed and much-delayed matters.”