Tejasvi Surya calls BMRCL''s plan to extend metro service to Tumakuru an ''urban planning nightmare''

Bengaluru, Nov 17 (PTI) Bengaluru South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Monday expressed reservations over extending metro service to Tumakuru, terming it an "urban planning nightmare" and criticising the Congress government in Karnataka for the "exorbitant" cost involved in the project.

His remarks came a day after Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) floated tenders to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the 59.6-km corridor from Madavara in Bengaluru to Tumakuru, estimated to cost Rs 20,896 crore.

Sharing a new report on his official 'X' account regarding the same, Surya said, "Tumakuru needs world class connectivity to Bengaluru. No doubt. But is Metro the right option?" He claimed that building a metro to Tumakuru is an "urban planning nightmare".

"The exorbitant cost involved in building it just does not make sense - this is what we have suburban trains for. But instead of developing the long-pending suburban rail and improving connectivity to Tumakuru, the Congress govt once again wants to spend crores on preparing a DPR for a metro project that will take years and years to see fulfilment," Surya said.

"The metro's average operating speed is around 34 km/hr, making it similar to a bus for long inter-city journeys," he added.

"Congress govt is repeatedly getting the fundamentals wrong - from tunnel roads to inter-city metro proposals, these arbitrary and ill-considered decisions are denying citizens basic civic amenities. Hope Congress soon snaps out of such illogical ideas," he added.

Reacting to Surya's remarks, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said, "To reduce traffic congestion, metro should go to all places. In Bengaluru, the metro should expand four times from what is there currently. Only then the traffic will come down. We should not do politics in this," he said.

He also pitched for increasing the number of metro coaches and enhancing the frequency to benefit the commuters. PTI AMP ADB