From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Jan 28: As against the previous schedule for completion of the first phase of Namma Metro of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) by December 2013, the deadline has now been extended to March 2015.
 
This information was given by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

Work on the 48-km first phase metro track was moving fast and was expected to be completed by March 2015,

As per the earlier schedule, the deadline for the first phase was December 2013.

The BMRCL has not been able to meet the deadline on account of delays in the land acquisition, handing over land by the Indian Railways, underground works and problems in shifting utilities, he said.

The revised cost of the phase-I was Rs 11,609 crore and the expenditure incurred as on December 2013 was Rs 10,372 crore.

The estimated total expenditure for the phase-I was Rs 13,845 crore.

In a reply to B N Vijayakumar of BJP and N Cheluvarayaswamy of the JD(S) during the question hour, the Chief Minister gave the break-up of the expenditure.

As per the figures mentioned by the chief minister, the items of various expenditure are:  land acquisition - Rs 2,163 crore, civil works – Rs 6,545 crore, system work – Rs 4,566 crore, and other expenditure – Rs 571 crore.

Earlier, Vijayakumar said that the BMRCL and the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike have not repaired roads on the metro route and there were no footpaths for pedestrians.

He urged the State Government to take up road repair works in the City as early as possible to ensure smooth movement of the traffic.