The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation’s (BMRCL) decision to build Cantonment Metro station, at least a kilometre away from the Cantonment railway station, has not found favour with civic activists as per a report by Aparajita Ray in Times of India.
Activists are protesting against the move saying it would defeat the very purpose of encouraging public transport.
They said few commuters were visiting Yeshwantpur Metro station because of its distance from the railway station and a similar situation was in store here.
BMRCL has started soil-testing in Bamboo Bazaar playground where it plans to build the station even as the South Western Railway (SWR) has appealed for a joint survey to study
if an underground station can be built in the parking space in front of the railway station, the report says.
Residents of Vasanthnagar along with suburban rail activists have come together to voice their opposition to the decision with activist Sanjeev Dyamanmavar even creating a Facebook page -@Bengalurucantonmentmetrolocation, to gather support.
Dyamanmavar said that BMRCL did not seem to have learnt any lessons from its failure to integrate Yeshwantpur Metro station and the railway station.
Rajkumar Dugar, president of Vasanthnagar residents welfare association, told ToI, “BMRCL is lying about many things related to this decision. There is no consultation with residents and the measures adopted by BMRCL are not transparent at all.”
“I am surprised that BMRCL has changed the alignment of the Nagavara-Gottigere line and bypassed Cantonment railway station. It is not in the interest of commuters ...as it defeats the purpose of encouraging use of public transport. I will take up the matter with the ministry of urban development and BMRCL,“ MP PC Mohan said.