City Metro- CM goes over arrangements for opening

Mangalore Today / PTI

Bangalore, Oct 7: With barely two weeks left for the commercial launch of Namma Metro, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Friday spent an hour at the Parade Grounds inspecting the arrangements to be made for the inauguration.

All precautionary measures will be taken for a grand opening, he announced. “We will inaugurate all the Metro stations along Reach-1 at Parade Grounds after taking a ride on the Metro from MG Road to Byappanahalli,” he said. After a brief discussion with the Police department, the BBMP and the BMRCL officials, Gowda said the local police will handle the security measures for the opening day.

 

“We are expecting more than 50,000 people to turn up on the opening day. All the six stations are likely to have a festive atmosphere and we will try to provide the best possible security cover to avert any untoward incident,” the chief minister said.

Reacting to concerns about further possible delays given the Metro’s track record in missing deadlines, Gowda said: “We have tried to get the Metro running as early as possible. If not for our lobbying at the Centre, Metro could have been further delayed. But you can see the result for yourself.”

 

 

For the October 20 inauguration at Parade Grounds, the dais for the dignitaries will be east facing and seating arrangements will be made for 15,000 people. The BBMP and the BMRCL will take up the responsibility of all arrangements, including the preparation of the ground and the surroundings for the inauguration.

Police Commissioner Jyothiprakash Mirji said the department will ascertain the number of people who will be at every Metro station and prepare a plan for crowd control and traffic management.

Vaastu to help Metro’s fortune?

While a routine inspection was conducted by the chief minister, Gowda’s belief in ‘vaastu’ was not to go unnoticed. After his inspection of the station, Gowda repeatedly directed that the BMRCL officials and the BBMP set up the dais at the western side of the ground, facing east to inaugurate all the Metro stations.

According to vaastu, as the Sun rises from the east it is said to be a holy direction. Hence, all rituals are performed facing this direction. Only time will tell if this will help Metro’s fortune in commercial operations.

Metro fare review

Reacting to complaints about the steep Metro fare, Sadananda Gowda said he will review the prices in the next few days. “We will take a decision on the fares after a detailed meeting on the issue in the coming days. We will see if any changes can be made to the rates of the Namma Metro,” he said.