http://www.deccanherald.com/content/201591/namma-ambedkar.htmlNamma Ambedkar
''The statue needs to be shifted immediately.''
The harried citizens of Bangalore, patiently awaiting a solution to
the horrors of daily commute on its grid-locked roads, have
wholeheartedly welcomed the opening of a small section of Namma Metro
which promises to make their lives easier.
The 6.7-km stretch from Baiyappanahalli to MG Road, now operational,
may serve a limited purpose at the moment, but the quality of service
and the enthusiasm with which the people have taken to it indicates
that the Metro will be a huge success once it connects the outlying
areas with the City centre.
The delays caused by political uncertainties and problems in acquiring
land have already pushed the completion schedule by about two years,
and it is incumbent upon the state government to expeditiously remove
the hurdles the project is facing.
The underground tunnelling in front of Vidhana Soudha and the state
High Court is the most challenging part of the work, as the safety of
the landmark buildings was a matter of concern. The engineers of
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) were able to convince
the authorities that the Metro would pose no danger and this
particular link was vitally important to create the network.
Strangely, though the tunnelling work began about a year ago, the
controversy surrounding the shifting of a statue in front of Vidhana
Soudha has all but spooked the project. The statues of Jawaharlal
Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose have been shifted without much ado, but
for over two years, the government has not permitted the shifting of
the statue of Dr B R Ambedkar, on the pretext that some dalit
organisations have been opposing it.
Last week, BMRCL managing director N Sivasailam wrote to the
government that unless it took a decision soon on shifting the
Ambedkar statue, the Metro work will come to a halt and even a few
months' delay would entail an additional cost of Rs100 crore.
Considering that BMRCL has promised to put the statues right back in
their places once the project was complete, the government should
immediately call the protesters and convince them that their objection
was untenable.
Dr Ambedkar, the father of the Constitution, is as venerable as our
other national icons, and nobody should see a 'conspiracy' to take
away a pride of place for his statue in front of Vidhana Soudha. It's
the government's responsibility to take administrative decisions in
the larger interest of the people, and it cannot allow itself to be
cowed down by some unreasonable organisations. The government must act
now.
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