COMMENTS

What you keep insisting as priority need not be the same for Mr Sivasailam or the city. IT routes are not the only ones that need priority, all routes do & some have far more traffic & priority (like ph-1: Majestic, City mkt, Chikpet, Yeshwanthpur, Peenya, Rajajinagar, etc). He must have stated what he did since his job requires him not to favor any section or one set of routes.

What is priority & what isn't must be dictated by study reports & not private fancies or wishlists. If priority is to be accorded to routes other than what traffic study comes out with, it is for GoK to decide which they seem to have done - they call the shots & take the responsibility, not Sivasailam or BMRC. So, your ire against MD for this is also misplaced.

My earlier post was based on the assumption that metro may wind down after two phases leaving some sections out, but now we know that there are plans to add more lines, which I think is needed rather than take the routes round & round the way you insist, whilst also calling metro "darshan" where it suits you.

All contractors did quote very high rates for UG section tenders initially before splitting them up & it isn't something that could have been resolved "with better discussions on the original tender". The so-called "discussions" that you prescribe may have taken much longer & it is doubtful if they would resolve anything at all the way splitting up did.

The point is that they were short of funds & dependent on GoI contribution to commence UG sections. Unfortunately, GoI has been releasing funds promptly only for Delhi metro, not others. There were delays from GoI side even for release of funds for Mumbai metro. So, blindly blaming BMRC for every delay without going deeper as to where problems lie is just a convenient way to bash them wherever possible which appears to be your intention.

You speak about Muniappa & SWR - how much help had they been for commuter rail? The progress so far has been only because of DULT & their commisioning a Rites report, not Muniappa nor SWR. Is it not possible that BMRC also had similar experiences with SWR & Muniappa?

PPP station with Mantri is nothing unusual - Mumbai, Hyderabad & Gurgaon metros are entirely PPP. Do they all need to be "probed"? Press had already reported terms about PPP. If you are interested in fuller PPP terms, an RTI can be filed rather than hurling wild accusations about misappropriation without any basis.

why build duplex houses which were eventually rented out by the occupants who were already well off?

Already well off? Why were they living in slums then? How many have rented out their houses? Any source for this information or just another bogus claim to add to your list? Great going - so, according to you, the speedy completion of metro on the routes prescribed by you is far more important than rehab of project effected persons, especially poorer sections. Fyi - it is not up to BMRC to order slum clearance board to carry out rehab (KSDB's primary job is to ensure hygienic conditions & provide basic amenities in slums). This decision is for GoK to take.

It looks like because of the so-called "dejection over priority" that does not meet your immediate commuting needs, you are willing to say anything & everything against BMRC rather than properly analyse issues & accept that city's interests lie ahead of your private interests.

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Oh wow..so does that explain the ire of GoK cos of disregard for their words?

BMRC is bound by orders from GoK - I dont know what you mean by their ire.

So does it work like in case of an appartment where one wants to buy a house, the builder encroaches govt land and the appartment buyers will not/should not be concerned abt it?

Your meaningless allegations continue -- Mantri has not put up any construction on land belonging to others nor did they intend to. They had used SWR's land for storing construction materials which was objected to by SWR & they demanded rent. In the case of an apt buyer, as long as there is no encroachment of the building construction itself on other properties, the buyer need not worry about where the developer chooses to stock building materials or how he deals with such issues. It is up to the developer to organize where he prefers to store materials & may have to pay rent for temporary use of land belonging to others, which Mantri seems to have ignored. BMRC has nothing to do with this - kindly read up fully about the issue before continuing to argue.

beareaucrats working things out with politicos....more apt comparisons are with the CRS initiative Chandrababu Naidu did for HYD when he was in power with oposition at the centre..

Chandrababu Naidu's TDP party's support was necessary for the govt at center then, else govt would have fallen if he had withdrawn support. He was thus able to use his position to extract deals with the clout he enjoyed & demanded MMTS for Hyderabad. Karnataka politicians have never enjoyed such clout since there are no regional parties in Karnataka. State politicos have limits on how much they can influence railway ministry. Even Mumbai metro suffered huge delays for building viaducts across WR tracks since similar issues had to be resolved. Kindly read up about all this before continuing to argue any further.

Renting? the houses were built free of cost for them cos they were supposed to be EWS..it was probably the former MD's personal agenda to use his earlier experience in rural housing..on the outset it was a heart warming news but contributed to misplaced priorities for metro..

Yes, renting or living as they please of course since they had been ousted from their original dwellings. "Probably the former MD's personal agenda" - you have no proof. So kindly stop the hot air & bickering against the MD for this. "Misplaced priorities" - the priority is always first rehab of displaced persons in every project. If you are so convinced that it should not have been this way & BMRC should have met your aspirations for metro first, kindly file RTI or better a PIL to prevent this in future. I'm sure it will be thrown out of court & you may be fined for bringing up frivolous issues. Since you do not know, it is a norm with every project to relocate displaced people first & foremost.

heres the statement from Bosch about their movement

As long as they prefer to move out by themselves & not based on some fancy dream or wishlist by someone.

Dairy movement but I will let you know when I can find it

I dont want to see it. As long as they prefer to go by themselves, fine. But not to satisy someone's fancy ideas.

Btw this post of mine is going no where and nothing positive is coming of it and it was not my intention to bash anyone..so cosidering the uselessness of these comments and posts, I have voted to remove it myself..

Sure, go ahead & remove. However, you have ended up bashing BMRC for everything that you could lay your hands upon but I'm certain you have not convinced anyone.

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Of the extensions, the ITPL/whitefield one is the most crucial one..all other 3 extensions are very well connected by highways now..its the ITPL link which has poor contectivity by road and has most metro traffic already exisitng and not just estimates!

Hope that line work is taken on a war footing and gets done the first!

Also for stations, the below space saving design by L&T should be mandated:

This design is also used by L&T for our metro stations and can be seen at KR road..its awesome..only wish this desig n was used in other metro stations especially the reach 1 stations like trinity which has ugly monolithic pillars everywhere!

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ITPL/whitefield one is the most crucial one..all other 3 extensions are very well connected by highways now..its the ITPL link which has poor contectivity by road and has most metro traffic already exisitng and not just estimates!

ITPL extn & RV-Bommasandra lines are on priority for BMRC, but they will still take time to build, even if they start parallel construction along with ph-1 when GoI approval is received.

Other extensions will take even longer & will become necessary as per projections - they are not estimates by an individual, but based on studies. CTTP had also recommended the same. The existense of highways with fewer cars may have misled you into believing lesser daily trips. Actually, traffic is even higher in all other directions, only difference being that more people travel on buses in the other three directions throughout the day whilst on ITPL road, the number of travelers by cars is higher during peak hours leading to excessive crowding on the road - this may have distorted your perceptions.

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Railways may renegotiate DFC loan condition with Japan

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Railways is contemplating to renegotiate loan condition with Japan for procuring high horse power electric locomotives for the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) as the procurement award is stuck over the pricing front.

Railways has found the price of Rs 50 crore per locomotive quoted by Kawasaki-led Japanese consortium too high and sought its reduction by almost half.

While the Japanese consortium has not reduced the price as desired by Railways, there was no further movement since January, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

"Since we will be getting the 12,000 HP locomotive at Rs 25 crore from our upcoming Madhepura plant, the price offered by the Japanese consortium is not acceptable," the official said.

Western DFC is entirely funded by JICA loan and as per the loan condition Railways has to procure locomotives from Japan.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/railways/railways-may-renegotiate-dfc-loan-condition-with-japan/articleshow/53743096.cms

These type of Terms of JICA will ensure project cost goes up even though loan interest is just  2%

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