The ambitious Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP), envisioned as a crucial solution to the city's notorious traffic congestion, is facing severe headwinds due to bureaucratic and logistical hurdles. A recent government summary has pinpointed two primary culprits for the slow progress: significant delays in land acquisition by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) and the failure of the South Western Railway (SWR) to clear encroachments along the proposed routes.
Land Acquisition: The Primary Bottleneck
According to a status report presented to the state cabinet last week, the total land requirement for corridors 2 and 4 is 283.1 acres. While 218.5 acres have been handed over to the nodal agency, Karnataka Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (K-Ride), the remaining land has been pending since 2023. KIADB is yet to complete the acquisition of 5.8 acres for corridor 2 and 49.4 acres for corridor 4.
The delays have been compounded by design changes. A decision in September 2023 to accommodate further quadrupling of tracks by the railways pushed the project alignment outward by 4.6 meters, necessitating the acquisition of an additional 7.5 acres of private land.
This protracted process has had a devastating financial impact. The original detailed project report estimated land acquisition, rehabilitation, and resettlement costs at ₹1,470 crore. Due to rising land prices, this cost has now ballooned to approximately ₹5,000 crore, a massive overrun that must be borne entirely by the Karnataka government as per its agreement with Indian Railways.
Encroachments and Contractual Fallout
Encroachments on railway land present another major obstacle. Out of 266 identified encroachments along corridor 2, 153 remain uncleared. On corridor 4, 25 encroachments are still in place, including four Indian Railways quarters that are directly obstructing the work.
These combined issues of unavailable land and encroachments led to a major setback earlier this year. Infrastructure giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) terminated its contract for the project, citing K-Ride's failure to hand over unencumbered work fronts and adequate land. Following this, the cabinet has approved the re-tendering of the ₹16,000-crore project for corridors 2 and 4.
Ripple Effects on Other Corridors
The financial and logistical strain has forced a slowdown on the project's other sections. The state finance department has instructed the Infrastructure Development Department (IDD) and K-Ride to "put on hold" work on corridors 1 and 3. Land acquisition for these lines has been halted due to a delay in the approval of alignment drawings by the South Western Railway.
Additional challenges flagged in the summary include the "non-inclusion" of defence land in the initial feasibility report and subsequent delays in securing necessary approvals from defence authorities. These factors collectively threaten to derail a mass transit project critical for Bengaluru's sustainable future, leaving commuters waiting indefinitely for relief.
