Finally, Metro to connect bus, rly stations at Majestic

Commuters from BMTC and KSRTC bus stations as well as the railway station at Majestic need not walk amid speeding vehicles to reach the Metro station as work has begun to connect the existing subway.

The Kempegowda Metro station sees a footfall of over one lakh every day. Besides being an interchange station allowing people to switch between Green Line (Nagasandra-Yelachenahalli) and Purple Line (Baiyappanahalli-Mysuru Road), it also gets commuters who come from buses and trains.

However, more than two years since it became operational, the Metro station did not have a safe access. Commuters had to walk more than 150 metres on the busy Gubbi Thotadappa Road to reach the Metro station.

Now, work has begun to connect the western entrance of the Metro station to the existing subway from the BMTC and railway station.

The BMRCL will also open another entrance in the southeast to connect the KSRTC terminal 1.

Foot overbridge

"By February 10, the work on connecting the subway will be completed. We will also provide a regular foot overbridge from the Metro station to the BMTC in the next month. The cost of both the projects is estimated at Rs 70 lakh," Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited Public Relations Officer U A Vasanth Rao told DH.

Sanjay Sahu, the contractor working on the subway, said a three-metre-wide pathway from the Metro station would be barricaded for the convenience of commuters.

"We have already finished the work on the reinforcement of the wall (abutting Gubbi Thotadappa Road). We are confident of finishing the project much earlier, by February 6," he said.

Reaching the Kempegowda Metro station is still a walk of nearly 600 metres for those coming from the railway station.

The City Railway Metro station is about 200 metres from the railway station's Platform Number 10. A foot overbridge to connect both stations is yet to be completed.

"The BMRCL's part of the work has been completed. The railways will have to take up the work from their side," Rao said.

Inset

BBMP has to clear Majestic subway

While work is on to provide safe access to the Metro station from the subway at the Majestic, it is yet to be seen whether the BBMP will open its eyes and remove hawkers and prostitutes, who have converted the subway into their den.

The poorly lit subway is filled with the foul smell. Pedestrians who take the subway have to find their way amid filth and garbage strewn across the floor.

There are nearly 50 hawkers, who sell a range of products from footwear and clothes to watches and smartphones. They occupy the subway almost blocking the entrance/exit, except for small passages.

"I earn Rs 200 to Rs 300 if I work from early morning to 11 pm. There is no other place to go. The police will seize all my product if I sit on a street," said a vendor who sells clothes.

The commuters hassled by the vendors blamed the BBMP for not coming up with an alternative. "Those who have to remove these vendors actually collect money from them every day. Why not make an alternative arrangement," asked Ramanath A G.

The stretch of the subway leading to KSRTC bus station and the Metro station is occupied by prostitutes and transgenders.

"It is a complicated matter. We can't arrest them. We only warn them not to harass commuters. But they come back anyway," the police said.