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Finally, Namma Metro resumes services as BRMCL staff withdraw stir

  • BMRCL staff withdraws its protest and the Namma Metro train services resumed 
  • In a shock to lakhs of commuters, the Bengaluru Metro suspended its service on both Purple and Green corridors
  • Regular metro users were caught unawares as there was no notice from Metro authorities, except downed shutters
  • The crisis is being officially attributed to technical glitches, however it could be the fallout of an incident on Thursday
BMRC officials Police clash Namma Metro services shutdown indefinitely
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First Published Jul 7, 2017, 8:40 AM IST

At last, the Namma Metro is back on track after the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BRMCL) staff withdrew their strike call on Friday. The BMRCL staff had stayed off from their work after a fight broke out between their colleagues and Karnataka State Industrial Security Force personnel on Thursday. An emergency meeting was called on to diffuse the crisis and MLA NA Haris and senior police officer Hemanth Nimbalkar headed the meeting. 

Earlier in the day, all Metro operations in Bengaluru came to a grinding halt on Friday, a day after a tiff between Namma Metro staff and  police personnel attached to the Karnataka State Industrial Security Force (KSISF). The sudden closure of the station has left lakhs of daily commuters in a lurch. There seems to have been no earlier notice about the shutdown, other than the downed shutters that greeted commuters in the morning. 

Everyday at least three lakh passengers ride on the green and purple corridors of Namma Metro. 'Namma Metro' has a track length of 42.3 km with 40 stations in two corridors, namely East-West and North-South Corridor for Phase-I. The East-West corridor has 18.1 km and 17 stations, while the North-South corridor has 24.2 Km and 24 stations.

Passengers had a harrowing time early in the morning when they saw the metro stations shut across the city. As police and the media crowded the Baiyyappanahalli Metro station, our correspondent asked a BMRCL official what the issue was. The only response that she got was that the Metro station will be shut for an indefinite time. "There's a meeting going on. The Metro stations will be shut unless there is a a resolution," he said, under conditions of anonymity. 

Passengers were clueless regarding their course of action. For instance, Kamini S said, "I have to go to Vijayanagara. I have no clue how I will reach office on time". Another woman, Ragini said, "I do not have to go that far. I will have to go to Vidhana Soudha. But, the main problem is now commuting to office."

Indeed, a 4-month pregnant woman, Priyadarshini, had a harrowing time finding a vehicle to reach office. "The autos are charging exorbitant rates. One auto driver asked for Rs 200 to go to Trinity Circle. He would not budge from that rate. The auto driver would not even consider that I am pregnant," she said. What about Uber and Ola? The app suddenly showed 1.5% extra peak-time charge. Uber showed out of cabs. 

Almost all the metro stations could be seen crowded and people enquiring about the metro timings today. Metro has a daily footfall of 315,000 passengers everyday. It can well be imagined the harrowing time they might be having during peak office time. 

Different opinions on the issue

Earlier on Thursday, the Sir M Visvesvaraya Metro station turned into a battlefield after a scuffle broke out between BMRCL staff and KSISF personnel.

Local newspapers suggest that constables Anand, Lakshman and Bharti asked a BMRCL official, Rakesh,as to why he was letting passengers go without checking. The official, Anand, said that the scan machine was not working and therefore he had to let them go. Aggravated at the answer, the three constables attacked him with slaps. Other constables involved in the assault were Lakshman and Bharti. As other BMRCL employees Kiran, Nagesh and Stephen came to Rakesh's rescue, the constables arrested them too. However, some reports also attributed the major shutdown to a fight over a faulty escalator that brewed up into a storm late Thursday night.

However, officials at Attiguppe station were not ready to confirm how long the service would be affected.  Our correspondent there said that the BMRCL suspended it's services abruptly on its 42 km line since 7:15 am. When the officials were asked there, they attributed it to technical glitches. 

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