Source: www.deccanherald.com
Metro rail has missed another deadline. Though Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa had announced that the Metro train would chug on Ugadi day, the plans came unstuck due to the delay in getting the safety certificates.
Yeddyurappa has now said that all necessary clearances from the Centre would be obtained within a fortnight and the Metro train would start operations in a month’s time.
However, there also is a technical issue that needs to be tackled before the project can take off. The government is yet to notify the amendments to the Mysore Tramways Act 1906 so as to comply with the Metro Railways (Amendment) Act 2009 and this seems to be the latest hurdle in the path of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).
Although the amendments have been cleared by the Union Urban Development Department and sent back to Karnataka, the rules are yet to be notified in the State gazette.
While the pending clearance of the schedule of dimensions and track structure are not something that can be overlooked easily, the new rules not being notified yet is also proving to be a hindrance, said BMRCL sources. The Railways (Amendment) Act 2009, notified in October the same year, extended the scope of the rules under the Delhi Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act 2002 to Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai.
Earlier last month, BMRCL Managing Director N Sivasailam had said: “The new Act has not been notified yet, even as the Urban Development Department has already written to the concerned department.”
This, sources said, has created a lot of confusion and has also, to some extent, derailed the process of obtaining the safety certificates. Sources said that BMRCL may make changes to its application to the Commissioner for Railways Safety (CRS) K J S Naidu, once the confusion over the rules is cleared.
The CRS has not been able to process the application before him and grant BMRCL the safety certificate, because there is a lot more clarity required which the BMRCL has failed to provide.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Naidu had said that BMRCL had not got back even after he had written to it.
Sivasailam had admitted recently that there were some documents, including those pertaining to fire clearance and lifts, that were not submitted by BMRCL.
