BMRCL

Since its inauguration, a large number of people have been taking joy rides on the Metro. Now, after about three weeks, there are those who still take fun rides, but the number of regular users is on the rise too.Most are professionals whose office and home, both, are located near the stretch. But many use Metro along with other transport modes to connect from home to office. Pallavi Rao, a Yeshwantpur resident in her 20s, takes two buses - one from Yeshwantpur to Shivajinagar, and another from Shivajinagar to MG Road - and then rides the Metro to her office…

The first trains on the Metro are about to run in the next six to nine months, so this is a good time to ensure that a few other steps are taken to make the new infrastructure more effective. This is particularly because the world over, Metro systems are usually not financially viable, and this has to be overcome by some tie-in arrangement in the real estate market, through capital grants from government and through other control measures that benefit the transit system.Bangalore Metro is no different. Over the course of a decade and more, the state has been willing…

The dusty haze of construction, ubiquitous green signs and makeshift shacks with ‘namma metro', a clear view of a once tree-lined street, half demolished buildings, newly asphalted road - metro construction work is in full swing on Mahakavi Kuvempu Road (MKK Road) in north-west Bangalore. Listen to Citizen Matters audio story in English and Kannada (6 1/2 mins) Citizen Matters Podcasts Download Podcast Subscribe to podcasts What are Podcasts?Podcasts are audio files you can listen to whenever you want. You can subscribe to our podcast feed using a jukebox tool (like Apple's iTunes) so that your computer automatically downloads it…

During the October RTI clinic at Cubbon Park, I met Jacob P (name changed to protect identity), a private sector employee who participated in the September edition for the first time. After that, he has never missed a clinic and has been updating me on the status of his applications regularly. "The commitment and enthusiasm of some of the RTI activists I met during the clinic inspired me to use the Act in public interest. I have told one of my friends about what I saw and heard and hope to bring him along next time", said Jacob. In October…

Recently, an incident of pillar-bending at a Bengaluru Metro construction site and its consequential casualties shook everyone. The days following saw press conferences, public meetings, officials giving clarifications and a number of people looking at Metro construction with scepticism. In August 2009, an over-six-metres-tall pillar stooped and caused two causalities and four people were injured. It happened on CMH road, Indiranagar, where  ‘Reach 1’ of the Metro is being constructed by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL). There were immediate allegations of unsafe working conditions for the workers and faulty design being followed. But the question about who should be…

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL)’s plan for shopping space inside the to-be-built metro stations is likely to leave many displaced traders stranded. Except two stations, one on M G Road and the other at Byapanahalli, and possibly a third -- the Trinity Circle station, all other stations will not have shops inside, according to K Nagendra, Public Relations Officer at BMRCL. Nagendra says that Metro stations which will have provisions for parking lots and integrated transport facilities will be the ones earmarked for inclusion of shops. The other stations are going to be basic. The crane moves at…

Namma Metro's construction on M G Road has stopped for a couple of weeks, according to a reliable source at BMRCL. This is because a private property next to Nalli Silks on M G Road is under litigation i.e., the owner of the property has a personal litigation going on about the property itself. There is a court stay on the property for two weeks, following which, the construction will begin again. Ongoing construction is causing noise disturbance for residents living within a few feet of the work. Pic: Zainab Bawa. On CMH Road also, construction has stopped as of…