Title - helen edges close to controversy One Machine Has Reached MS Building

Bangalore: Helen, the first tunnelboring machine (TBM) deployed by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC), is relentlessly engaged in drilling through the entrails of the city. The TBM on Sunday reached MS Building, a few hundred metres away from the seat of power, Vidhana Soudha. One of the three TBMs engaged in construction of the underground section of the East-West route of Namma Metro, Helen has already covered 356 meters from M Visvesvaraya station, near Central College. Helen is expected to reach Vidhana Soudha station by November first week.
    Margarita, the other TBM engaged in the underground section, has also covered about 151 meters from Visvesvaraya station. Helen and Margarita have already finishing digging twin tunnels between Majestic station and Central College.
    A third TBM has been employed at the other end of the underground section, from the east ramp at Cubbon Park station, near Minsk Square.
WORK NEARS AMBEDKAR STATUE
Notwithstanding the progress, workers employed with the TBMs are wary as they are approaching a corridor of controversy, given that very soon they will be very close to the Dr BR Ambedkar statue in front of Vidhana Soudha. This is the only statue that still stands here. While statues of Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose have been shifted to facilitate work, the Ambedkar statue has remained because of stiff opposition by Dalit activists.
    Given the sensitivities involved, the statue has been cordoned off with a huge posse of policemen deployed at the spot. BMRC says the statue needs to be shifted as underground work could damage it. Dalit activists allege that there is no need to shift the statue. The government, meanwhile, is delaying taking a call. Given the approaching assembly elections, it is doubtful whether the government would take any call at all.Metro workers said they have been told in clear terms to keep off the statue area. “Tunnelling work will continue without shifting the statue. Our senior officers say it is possible to continue tunnelling without disturbing the statue,” said a worker whose name has been withheld.
    Helen and Margarita will have to find their way through a sharp curve under the gardens of the General Post Office (GPO) to reach the Cubbon Park station.
    The underground section of Namma Metro’s East-West line stretches from Leprosy Hospital and moves through Majestic, Central College campus and Vidhana Soudha area before joining the elevated section near Chinnaswamy Stadium.
‘SLOW BUT SAFE’ Due to additional safety measures and use of rock-cutting techniques, work is moving without any hindrance, albeit a bit slowly, due to the nature of the process employed. If the government takes a decision on shifting the statue anytime now, about four months could be saved in construction work at the location. N Sivasailam | MD, BMRC








WHAT NEXT? The Ambedkar statue in front of Vidhana Soudha has been cordoned off due to security concerns. Margarita, the tunnelboring machine, has covered 151 metres from Visvesvaraya station