Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa inaugurating an extended line of Bengaluru Metro.
For an urban transport system meant to de-clog one of India's most liveable cities, Namma Metro is still only beginning to make a difference to Bengaluru which continued to add over 1,500 vehicles to its clogged roads every single day till pandemic struck. Even the addition of 6 km today on the north-south Green Line still only means a cumulative 48 km of service in a city of 1.3 crore.
That translates to a little over 5 km of additional Metro Rail service on average since it was launched in late 2011. Yet, authorities are happy and look forward to covering more of Bengaluru over the next few years.
"It is a matter of satisfaction, but we also realise it is a long story to be covered. We have done just 6 km in Phase 2. Another 66 to go. Of these, we expect to be doing 8 km this year itself," Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Managing Director Ajay Seth told NDTV.
"The honourable Chief Minister has set a tough goal for us: When India turns 75 (in 2022), it should be 75 km of Bengaluru Metro. A 75 km network in another two years. And an even tougher goal: By 2025, we should be 172 km. We are 48 now with today's inauguration," Mr Seth said.
That puts Namma Metro veritably years behind schedule. After all, the service's latest 6 km were supposed to have been added way back in 2018.
There are multiple reasons for these delays, besides the pandemic, which the company is confident of overcoming with time.
"Land acquisition has been the problem. And in our ORR and airport lines, I am happy to say that all the land is with us. We expect the project to start in 4-5 months," Mr Seth said. "For Kanakapura Road, we could get all the land by only 2019, although the work began in 2016." Similarly, Namma Metro's wanted to complete the airport line by the end of 2024 initially. "Now we are seeing it as mid-2025," he said.
By the end of 2022, the line to Whitefield and Electronics City will be hopefully be commissioned.
It will all be fruitful at the end of the day, he hopes, since the new lines will cater to areas that have seen a massive boom in the past few years.