Karnataka

Namma Metro to the rescue, almost

Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

metro

BANGALORE, January 7, 2014: For autorickshaw loyalists who were rendered without conveyance on Monday owing to the strike, Namma Metro turned out to be a blessing. But the effectiveness of the metro in places where there is no feeder service was exposed due to the lack of autorickshaws, so was the shortness of its coverage.

For instance, while the customer care executive at the CMH Road metro station said there was no spurt in the number of passengers on Monday, there were people who were not regular takers of the metro who had to depend on it.

Dona Biswas, a sales manager with a hotel and resort chain, is a resident of Marathahalli who works at Jeevanbimanagar. But with her work requiring her to meet clients, she was forced to do a lot of walking. “I usually take autos because I have to meet clients at their offices. Today I took the metro up to Trinity Circle and had to walk to their offices on Brigade Road and Residency Road,” she said.

While the stations at CMH Road and Trinity Circle are not connected by Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) feeder services, those at the M.G. Road station were better off.

Nagaraju G., a constable from the Cubbon Park police station, turned a travel guide at the empty pre-paid auto stand opposite the metro station.

“People alighting here are not majorly affected because of the strike. We are telling them what buses they can take. For example, the feeder services go to west, north and south Bangalore. Otherwise, we are asking them to go to Shivajinagar where they will get buses to all areas,” he said.

There were others like retired railway employee V. Narayanan, who ended up paying Rs. 500 for an auto ride from Badami House to his house in C.V. Raman Nagar at 6 a.m. on Monday. Having had to take visiting relatives for shopping in the afternoon, he decided to take the metro.

“We will walk from the Byappanahalli metro station to C.V. Raman Nagar,” he added, wanting to avoid burning a hole in his pocket again by taking an auto.

Write A Comment