NEW DELHI: In what will come as a big relief for Bangalore residents, who have to grapple with clogged roads every day, Union cabinet on Thursday approved the Metro rail project for the city.
Emerging out of the cabinet meeting, Union urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy said the Rs 6,395-crore project, to be completed by 2011, would cover a length of 33 km in two corridors.
That is good news. However, I can't help but wonder if the 2011 target date for completion of the first phase of the project is too ambitious and unrealistic.
Yes, it is good to have a positive outlook. Nobody wants to be pessimistic. But having seen the saga of the Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (not to mention the many fly-over stories of Bangalore), is there anything at all to give us real hopes that the project will be completed on time? A 33 km urban railway which runs above ground, below ground and on the ground to be completed in 5 years in India? Yeah, right!
Let's compare the Bangalore Metro Rail project to the Phoenix Metro Rail project, which is in the contruction stage right now. The two projects together make a great comparative case study because they are both contemporary urban rail systems, covering the same distance (33 kms ~ 20 miles).
The first phase of the Phoenix Metro Rail project from "right of way acquisition" to inauguration is taking eight years in a country like the US. Construction phase alone spans about 4 years. And as far as I know, the Phoenix metro rail has no underground segment.
Can we really believe that the Bangalore Metro rail will be completed in 5 years, after receiving the "cabinet nod" just now? Given the way things work in India, I would say that is not optimism. That is an unbelievable fantasy!
Just building one fly-over involves so much bureaucracy and delays. How can we hope that a big project like the metro rail will happen on schedule, let alone an aggressive schedule? We have seen how just one fly-over construction disrupts surrounding traffic and life in Bangalore city. I am scared to imagine what a 33 km construction would do to the city!
The Phoenix Metro Rail can be a model for the Bangalore Metro Rail on how things should really be done. I highly recommend my readers to check out the Phoenix Metro Rail's website. Take time to navigate the site, check all the details, right down to the animated simulation, the community outreach, the marketing efforts, etc. I have personally seen some of the construction efforts and how it is handled so that there is minimum inconvenience to existing traffic and businesses. They have come out with marketing and promotional programs to help businesses along the rail tracks, which are affected by the construction.
The volume and depth of information available on the Phoenix Metro Rail's website gives us an idea of how well the project is coming along. More important, it provides us important information and confidence in the project. Contrast that with the Bangalore Metro Rail's website.
I am born and brought up in Bangalore. I love it as much as any localite or immigrant to Bangalore. The purpose of this post is not to spread pessimism or to criticize for the sake of criticizing. As I mentioned in a previous post on NRI Nationalism, we can learn a lot from seeing how things are done in other places and countries. There will probably be more comparative posts in the future, about the Bangalore and Phoenix Metro Rail projects. I hope this series of posts will spark healthy debates and discussions, will be informative to all the stakeholders of the project(s) and will help in a small (or a big) way towards providing a great train service to the urban commuters.
Related link: Bangalore Metro Rail Watch
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Wait a sec...I was in Delhi when the construction was taking place n on the next visit, it was just near completion...They finished real fast...As one of the commenters above has quoted it took them 3 years, so it may not be a fantasy if all the right muscles are flexed...I guess they ought to do it now or they are already seeing the city being used and thrown by many firms alike....They cant folly too much and I believe they have something valuable to learn...lets see wht happens in 5 years....Maybe some of us who can host a web page can do something and report the progress too...I am kinda excited with this....:)
ReplyDeleteYes 5 years is too long a period!
ReplyDeletehoping this project will be implemented like the delhi metro! in a few months the bengalore metro page on wikipedia would have more details than the official site, unless the concerned people could get the website job outsourced to the right people.