Tunnelling work has stopped as the Railways and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd debate over railway employees being displaced due to Metro work in city, thereby adding to the states woes.
Tunnelling work has stopped as the Railways and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd debate over railway employees being displaced due to Metro work in city, thereby adding to the states woes.The delay in the BMRCL project is causing unprecedented losses to the state and the speed these losses are growing at is disproportionate to the progress being made. The Railways have yet again locked horns with the BMRCL and as a result of this disagreement, the tunnelling work outside the City Railway station has been halted for the last 10 days.
Tracking trouble:u00a0 The railways had made a claim that the BMRCL
work had led to displacement of their employees. pic/Satish BadigerWith the tunneling work already moving at a snail's pace, this delay has not only pushed the deadline for completion further afar, but has also effected the state exchequer to lose about Rs 5 crore. The disagreement broke out between the railways and the BMRCL during the meetings between both sides two weeks ago. The railways had made a claim that the BMRCL work had led to displacement of their employees. Following this, the railways demanded that the BMRCL stop work at three areas -- Aiyappaswamy Temple Road, Railway Quarters and Platform Road.
Tug of war?When questioned about the same, BMRCL spokesperson Yeshwanth Chavan had said that the body has already paid over Rs 98 crore as license fee towards utilising railway land. However, with the state on the losing end as a result of this delay, and with both the sides refusing to budge, the BMRCL now plans to take the matter to the next level.
"There has been confusion with respect to the requirement of the Railways vis a vis for the land they have provided for Metro work. The same is being sorted out with them," said Chavan. Meanwhile, the South Western Railways have made serious accusations against the BMRCL. "BMRCL was never given an written permission to start work in the first place. We let them begin their work in good faith because they are also a public undertaking," said G K Jalan, CPRO, South Western Railways.
Fear factorReacting to this, the BMRCL officials claimed to have already spent over Rs 14 crore for constructing new quarters for railways employees who have been displaced. However, the Railways have responded saying that the location where they have built those quarters is neither safe nor adequate.
"The residents in the surrounding areas are feeling insecure because of the nearby slums. We had even told them to construct a boundary wall, but they have refused. Further, the division had placed certain conditions, which the BMRCL has not yet fulfilled. They were supposed to submit a draft agreement for the execution of work and also the method of execution. Nothing of that sort has been done either," said Jalan. With neither the BMRCL nor the Railways coming to a common consensus, public money seems to be going down the drain with each passing day.
