Decks cleared for 15.25-km elevated metro line in Bengaluru
Decks have been cleared for the 15.25 km long elevated Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield Metro Line with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) sorted out pending issues with Railway authorities and now the project is slated for commissioning by the end of this year. Under a swap deal, Railway Board has approved the transfer of 3500 square metres of land that BMRCL required near KR Puram station to widen the road between Tin Factory-KR Puram towards Marathahalli -Whitefield while the Railways will be handed over an equal portion of land in swap agreement. As part of the road widening, most of the buildings on a one-km stretch from Outer Ring Road (ORR) flyover to KR Puram Railway station will be partially demolished, while a few will be completely razed. Work on the other side of the road, from the under-construction KR Metro Station to the petrol bunk near the Tin Factory foot-over-bridge, has already been completed. Bengaluru Railway Division has given the go-ahead to BMRCL to build the last piece of pending civil work on the line - a structure running 65 metres above the railway line. The 15.25 km Purple Line extension project has repeatedly faced delays due to legal wrangling between environmental and local authorities over relocating around 60 trees near Benniganahalli Lake.
