Instead of metro to Hosur, quadruple railway line till Attibele first: Activists

The Karnataka government's approval for a proposal to extend a 20.5 km metro line to connect Hosur in Tamil Nadu has evoked strong reactions with urban mobility activists urging the governments and leaders to focus on suburban rail instead by quadrupling the existing railway line till Attibele.

DH on Thursday reported about the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) informing the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on May 5 that the Karnataka chief minister giving in principle approval to a proposal by the Krishnagiri MP Dr A Chellakumar's proposal to connect Hosur with the Namma Metro Phase 2 line which terminates at Bommasandra.

Vociferous arguments have been made for and against the proposal on social media with many passionately arguing that Karnataka's decision was wrong, while a small number of users defended the decision, stating that it will be a win-win situation for both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

A majority of the responses that slammed the approval argued that the state government should first look at providing connectivity within Bengaluru first, noting the delays in completion of Namma Metro Phase 2 and other proposed lines within the city.

Partha, a Twitter user, questioned chief minister Basavaraj Bommai's "tearing hurry". "What is the tearing hurry to build a metro to Hosur when Bengaluru metro is still not complete? Where is the airport metro? Please don't waste Karnataka's resources on something which is not a priority now," he said.

As many pointed out that extending the suburban rail was a better idea, Vivek Kalkur, another user, noted that alignment of metro and suburban rail were different. "Metro caters to the massive developments that have happened along NH44 while suburban connects interior locations on either side of the highway," he noted.

Urban mobility activist Sanjeev Dyamannavar prioritising metro connectivity to Hosur may not be viable at present. "The best way to connect Hosur is to quadruple the line to Chandapura and run suburban trains at a good frequency. It's also cost effective compared with capital intensive metro projects. If there is a need for a metro line in the future, it can be taken up at that time," he said.

Karnataka Railway Vedike's Lokesh T P said people should oppose the metro proposal. "Instead of utilising the existing resources like the railway line, the government will end up investing thousands of crores to empower land and real estate mafia. It's yet another contractor-driven project. We need more local trains on the route," he added.

Dyamannavar noted that political leaders have repeatedly made statements to connect faraway places with the metro. "For long distance connectivity like Bengaluru and Hosur, metro is not a viable mode. Considering that metro coaches have only 30% seating capacity, one may have to stand more than an hour to reach Bengaluru. Both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu can learn something from the Delhi-Mathura rapid railway transit system," he said.