Bangalore: The Bengaluru Metro project is delayed because it is led by bureaucrats and not technocrats, principal advisor to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), E Sreedharan -better known as the Metro Man of India -has said.
“Many technocrats were sent back midway. The BMRCL has had five managing directors in nine years.This is a drawback, because one person holding the top post for a continued period would be accountable. I was the chief of Delhi metro or 14 years, which helped us complete the project ahead of schedule,” Sreedharan told a press confererence in Bengaluru on Tuesday. He pointed out that the cost of Namma Metro has shot up by 60%.
In a scathing remark, Sreedharan said DMRC extended assistance to the BMRCL for four years, before he latter started ignoring suggestions, including a detailed project report on how to go about underground tunneling at Majestic.
“They wanted to reject our report.Later, BMRCL stopped asking for any assistance, perhaps due to ego issues of bureaucrats,” he said.
Unhappy over Chief Minister Siddaramaiah not responding to his two letters – one in 2013 and another one in February this year – about starting a 200 kmhr high-speed railway line between Mysuru and Bengaluru, Sreedharan said the state Government is misguid ing people saying that such a project needs lots of money. The project cost will be Rs 10,000 crore and if the government bears Rs 1,000 crore, the Indian Railways would bear an equal amount while the remaining Rs 8,000 crore can be funded by foreign agencies at 0.03% interest, he said. If gov ernment approves it now, the project would be ready in the next seven years. The project would prevent road accidents, save lives, bring down pol lution while reducing travel time, he said.
Sreedharan pointed out that the DMRC had also submitted a report on a high-speed metro rail from Majestic Metro Station to the Kempegowda International airport.
The project, which was scrapped by the State government, could have brought down travel time be tween the two points to eight minutes, he said.
