Title - BMRCL authorities accused of indulging in irregularities

The former Minister H.D. Revanna of the Janata Dal (Secular) on Monday alleged that the Namma Metro project has turned into a “big scandal” and accused Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) authorities of indulging in irregularities in the implementation of the project.Speaking on various State budget proposals in the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Revanna said that BMRCL has been incurring Rs. 62 crore more expenditure for laying a km of track in the city compared to the project taken up in Chennai. The cost per km of metro rail in Bangalore is Rs. 362 crore against the Rs. 300 crore in Chennai, Mr. Revanna said.

The project, which was launched in 2007, was now expected to be ready in 2015. Moreover, the project cost has escalated from Rs. 6,395 crore in 2007 to Rs 15,352 crore now on account of delay in implementation and also inflation. Though there was no cost involved for acquisition of land for laying the underground railway line, BMRCL had been spending Rs. 362 crore per km, he alleged.

Erratic power supply

He alleged that farmers have been facing problems on account of erratic supply of power to irrigation pumpsets. Electricity supply companies have incurred losses and are unable to complete several planned projects due to bad management, he said.

Earlier, C.T. Ravi (BJP) demanded higher allocation of funds to the agriculture sector, while Siddu Nyamegouda (Congress) sought more funds for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.

Intervening during the discussion, Ashok Kheny of the Karnataka Makkala Paksha urged the State government to ban transportation of cows and other domestic animals from the State to slaughterhouses in Andhra Pradesh.