Initial Observations of Growthwatch on Bangalore Metro Rail Line Project


The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), formed jointly in September 1994 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs of the Government of India (GOI) and the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Karnataka (GOK). The BMRCL started constructing 42.3 Bangalore Metro Rail in April 2015 and after completion of first phase it had planned for the second phase. There are 6 routes in the planned second phase named (a) Mysore Road Terminal to Kengeri (b) Baiyappanahalli to ITPL - Whitefield (c) Hesaraghatta Cross to BIEC (d) Puttenahalli Cross to Anjanapura Township (up to NICE Road) (e) Gottigere to Nagavara (Line - 6) and (f) R.V. Road to Bommasandra (Line - 5). To implement the almost 23 km long Gottigere to Nagavara reach (Line - 6), BMRCL sought a loan from European Investment Bank (EIB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Subsequently EIB approved a multi tranche loan of Euro 500 million and AIIB approved a loan of USD 335 million. 

Land Acquisition 

The Project entails the acquisition of about 33 hectares of land from BMRCL, 22.4 hectares held by private owners and about 3.2 hectares held by various public entities. In addition, approximately 27 common property assets, such as religious structures and local utilities, which may be affected due to the proposed alignment. As mentioned in Compensation and Resettlement Package (CRP) 2019, Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) is the responsible agency for acquisition of land according to the state law of Karnataka (KIADB Act 1966). Additionally 5.18 hectare (12.80 acre) of land will be taken for the project temporarily due to construction works. But the Draft Bengaluru Transit Oriented Development Policy (BTOD) 2019 will seriously affect the poor slum dwellers, hawkers and small shopkeepers who are not covered under the compensation plan. 

Displacement 

According to the EIA Report (August 2017), a total of 838 households will be affected, which includes 712 households linked to commercial units and 126 residential households. In addition, there are 153 tenants including 136 commercial and 17 residential families who will be affected due to the project. Based on the average household size of city it is estimated that about 3890 persons will be affected by the Project. As per the preliminary estimation carried out by BMRCL, a total of 698 private structures will be affected. Out of the 698 private structures, 642 are title holders and 56 are non-title holders. The loss of livelihood estimated under the project includes business loss by owners (712), loss of rental income by residential owner (17), loss of rental income by commercial owners (136), loss of business livelihood by commercial tenants (136) and commercial squatters (44). 

Environment 

The Environmental and Social Data Sheet of the project states that (a) About 1312 trees will be lost for construction of metro rail alignment as well as the depot area; (b) Local air pollution will increase due to rock crushing, cutting and filling works, and chemical emissions from asphalt processing; (c) Risks and vulnerabilities related to occupational health and safety will increase due to physical, chemical, biological, and radiological hazards during project construction and operation; (d) Dislocation or involuntary resettlement of people as there will be a need for land acquisition for elevated as well as underground sections and also for a Depot; (e) Dislocation and compulsory resettlement of people from shops living near the stations (f) Noise and vibration due to tunnelling boring machine, excavation machines, and materials hauling; (g) Increased noise and air pollution resulting from traffic volume during construction. 

Information Disclosure 

Timely and meaningful Information Disclosure is one of the basic conditions of large infrastructure project as per AIIB and EIB policies. A complete EIA report is to be submitted and approved for the project while ESIA report is required according to the EIB and AIIB environmental standards. The BMRCL developed its EIA report only in August 2017 while the trilateral agreement had been submitted in February 2017. The project document refers that all consultations for developing Resettlement Policy Framework has been uploaded and published on BMRCL Website, but the website says “You do not have permission to view this directory or page” if one clicks on the given link. No Resettlement Action Plan (RAP), Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) and Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) has been published yet. The project document confirms formation of a Social and Environmental Management Unit (SEMU), however no information is available in the public domain about the SEMU. 

Information Sources 

  1. AIIB (2017). Project Document: Bangalore Metro Rail Project –Line R6 (Project Number: 000038). Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Beijing: 20 November 2017. Accessed on 18 September 2019 
  2. AIIB (2019). Project Summary Information (PSI): Bangalore Metro Rail Project – Line R6 (Project Number: 000038). Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Beijing: 20 March 2019. Accessed on 25 September 2019 
  3. BMRCL (2017a). Environmental Impact Assessment Study (Gottigere-Nagavara Corridor): Bangalore Metro Rail Project: Phase - II: Final Report. Bangalore Metro Rail Line Corporation Limited (BMRCL), Bangalore: May 2017. Accessed on 5 October 2019 
  4. BMRCL (2017b). Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report: Bangalore Metro Rail Project - Line R6. Bangalore Metro Rail Line Corporation Limited (BMRCL), Bangalore: August 2017. Accessed on 5 October 2019 
  5. BMRCL. 2018. 12th Annual Report 2017-18. Bangalore Metro Rail Line Corporation Limited (BMRCL), Bangalore: 20 September 2018. Accessed on 6 October 2019 
  6. BMRCL. 2019. Compensation and Resettlement Package (CRP) 2019 applicable to Reach 6 of Phase-2 and Phase-2A & 2B. Bangalore Metro Rail Line Corporation Limited (BMRCL), Bangalore: 10 July 2019. Accessed on 6 October 2019 
  7. BMRCL. Undated. Social Assessment of Bangalore Metro Rail Project - Line 6. Bangalore Metro Rail Line Corporation Limited (BMRCL), Bangalore: Undated. Accessed on 6 October 2019 
  8. DMRCL. 2011. Detailed Project Report (DPR): Bangalore Metro Phase II: Gottigere - IIMB - Nagavara Corridor. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRCL), New Delhi: September 2011. Accessed on 5 October 2019 
  9. EIB. 2017a. Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF): Bangalore Metro Rail Project - Line R6 (Project Number: 2016-0816). European Investment Bank (EIB), Luxembourg: 7 July 2017. Accessed on 19 September 2019 
  10. EIB. 2017b. Environmental and Social Data Sheet (ESDS): Bangalore Metro Rail Project - Line 6 (Project Number: 2016-0816). European Investment Bank (EIB), Luxembourg: 18 July 2017. Accessed on 20 September 2019 
  11. EIB. 2017c. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report: Bangalore Metro Rail Project - Line 6 (Project Number: 2016-0816). European Investment Bank (EIB), Luxembourg: August 2017. Accessed on 21 September 2019 
  12. EIB. 2018. Environmental and Social Practices Handbook. European Investment Bank (EIB), Luxembourg: 8 October 2018. Accessed on 6 October 2019 
  13. GOK. 2019. Draft Bengaluru Transit Oriented Development Policy (BTOD). Government of Karnataka (GOK), Bengaluru: February 2019. Accessed on 7 October 2019 
  14. Ravi, P. 2018. 10 Extremely Relevant Facts About Poverty in Bangalore. Borgen Project, Seattle: 31 May 2018. Accessed on 6 October 2019 
  15. Zuckerman, E; Kugli, L. et al. 2018. Gender Scorecard & Analysis of AIIB Projects: Bangalore Metro Rail Project ‐ Line R6. Gender Action, Washington DC: June 2018 p32. Accessed on 19 September 2019

My 2016 wishlist: Vidya Dinker, secular activist

Scroll.in | Jan 01, 2016 
 

'I would like young people to stand up to reclaim their everyday private and public lives.' 

 

 
I would want the [Karnataka] state government to develop a kind of vision and policy framework to deal with immoral policing and communal policing [in Mangalore and Dakshina Kannada]. I would like the administration and the police to respond to immoral policing differently and not club them with regular criminal activity. 
 
Socially, I would really like young people to stand up to reclaim their everyday private and public lives and not let goons dictate to them what they should wear, how they should behave, what they should say and who they should fraternise with. I would like social, cultural, economic and political measures to wean some of the youth who are getting involved in these illegal and immoral policing activities. The administration says “come down hard with an iron hand” but what I would like to see is prevention rather than a delayed response to the incidents happening. All of us need to gear up and tackle this menace. 
 
Ordinary people like you and me need to stand up. Young people need to do the same. There needs to be some kind of political will and social and cultural measures. For example, right now they have banned Zakib Naik and Pravin Togadia from coming to the district. Normally, I would say don’t ban. I love free speech and I believe that if you have a problem with what somebody is saying, listen to him and then debate it. But here, maybe for a short time of about a year or two years, until things return to normal, maybe they should not allow anyone in who could possibly facilitate communal tension. 
 
Whether we like it or not, a lot of these young people are recruited into the religious extremist or fringe groups because they are not gainfully employed. So they indulge in immoral policing because it gives them currency and they get into security agencies run by these groups or loan recovery agents. Part of the reason is social and economic. So I want the state to have a vision and framework in this regard. 
 
Constitutional values should be brought into curriculums of schools and colleges. It cannot be that because they get some points for having something on human rights that they have one lecture on human rights. A rights-based approach, upholding constitutional values, rights and duties – these things need to be spoken about time and again within the classroom and outside. 
 

Mangaluru: Activist Vidya Dinker appeals to Home Minister to STOP ‘Immoral Policing’ in City

The Mangalorean | 24 December 2015 

Social activist Vidya Dinker-coordinator of Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development has appealed to Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara to urgently look into the ‘Immoral Policing” matter and personally direct his ministry to restore peace and the rule of law in Dakshina Kannada district. The following is the appeal letter addressed to the Home Minister by Vidya Dinker. 

To 
Dr G. Parameshwara 
Hon’ble Home Minister 
Government of Karnataka 
Bangalore – 560001 

Dear Sir, 

Sub: Increasing incidences of ‘Immoral Policing’ – Concerted Action sought. 

With deep distress we wish to inform you that Dakshina Kannada district, especially Mangaluru, has been continuously targeted for ‘immoral policing’ by self styled extremist and religious fundamentalist organizations. Our district is slowly getting converted into a flash point for communal tension and this in turn gets resonated in sporadic incidences of violence and ‘immoral policing’. 

The most recent such incidence has been that of antisocial elements forcibly preventing the exhibition of ‘Dilwale’, a Hindi film starring Shah Rukh Khan at various film theatres in Mangaluru city. It was reported in www.mangalorean.com and other publications, that rowdies belonging to the Bajrang Dal targeted the three multiplexes in the city, namely PVR, Cinepolis and Big Cinemas, which had scheduled screenings of the film and tickets had also been sold for the same. 

Cinegoers were visibly distressed by the incident and the multiplex managements panicked and cancelled the subsequent shows. Other individual theatres have also discontinued their screenings of the film in fear. It is reported in the media that Bajrang Dal leaders have openly accepted responsibility for the attack. We hereby wish to express our outrage over these affronts on our civil rights. Citizens are being told what to do and what not to do by these goons and their anti-social
outfits. An atmosphere of fear is created and perpetuated with mafia style tactics. This trend of unofficial censorship and immoral policing is shameful, unfortunate and amounts to virtual murder of democracy. 

The police response to the overall issue of ‘immoral policing’ in the city and the District seems inadequate A parallel government is being established by these criminal syndicates and citizens are losing confidence in the police and official machinery. After the latest incident, we made a representation before Sri S. Murugan, Commissioner of Police of Mangaluru on the evening of 21st December. He was generally receptive as we have also been to him with our concerns on previous incidents of immoral policing in the city limits and assured us full commitment of the police department to tackle the present issue. 

We are also happy to note the some follow up action has been initiated by him in this regard. However, ‘immoral policing’ is a serious issue with deep political and social undertones. The diligence of the police alone is not enough to curb it. The government should express its political will to eradicate the problem once and for all. The state home ministry should play an active role and render its expertise. 

Hence we urge you to urgently look into the matter and personally direct your ministry to restore peace and the rule of law in Dakshina Kannada district. As an immediate measure we request you to seek reports on the present incident at hand – that of attack on movie theaters located under Urwa and Pandeshwar Police stations which are screening the Shah Rukh Khan film ‘Dilwale’ – and ensure centralized monitoring of the concerned police jurisdictions dealing with the matter. 

We trust that you will respond positively to this appeal. 

Thank you. 

Warm Regards, 

Vidya Dinker 
Coordinator-CFMD

The Multiple Displacements of Mangalore Special Economic Zone

Economic & Political Weekly | Vol. 48, Issue No. 33, 17 Aug, 2013
Ian M Cook, Ramachandra Bhatta, Vidya Dinker 

This paper analyses three different types of displacement - social, cultural and economic - in the lives of three women and their families which have been affected by the creation of the Mangalore special economic zone. Conceptualising the displacements in rhythmic terms, it first details the subversion of progressive land reforms and the reassertion of caste-based oppression, followed by the clash between the dharma of the spirits of the land and the neo-liberal dharma of capitalistic development. Finally, it looks at life in a resettlement colony where families that have been uprooted from the agricultural production cycle are closed off from the urban life they are expected to adopt. 

Vidya Dinker, four others released

May 27, 2012 | The Hindu 
Social activist Vidya Dinker and four others, who were arrested on the charges of obstruction and use of vulgar language against Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner N.S. Channappa Gowda on Thursday, were released on bail on Saturday. 
The Second Judicial Magistrate First Class passed the order on an application filed by Ms. Dinker and others on Thursday night. 
The Magistrate directed Ms. Dinker, Jacintha, Lata, Godfrey, and Ashok Amin to appear before the investigation officer every alternate Sunday till the police filed the charge sheet. 
The police arrested Ms. Dinker and four others following a complaint accusing them of obstructing the Deputy Commissioner from discharge of his duty. They were also accused of using abusive words. 
They were among the group of people who had gone to question Mr. Gowda regarding dumping of mud by Mangalore Special Economic Zone into the Phalguni river. All the five were sent to the Mangalore prison after they were produced before the magistrate. 
Speaking to reporters after her release, Ms. Dinker accused the Deputy Commissioner of colluding with police and allowing the MSEZ to go ahead with the Road-cum-Pipeline Corridor work in violation of Coastal Regulatory Zone norms. 
“We had gone to the DC to enquire as to when he would visit the area. Some among us were upset over DC's failure to visit the place as promised by him earlier. It was a business-like talk and we did not use any abusive words.” 
On the allegation of obstruction, Ms. Dinker said it was unintentional. 
“We just wanted him to say the time of his visit before he leaves the premises. A few of us happened to be near the door of his car.” Ms. Dinker said there have been several times during the fight against the MSEZ that they have visited Deputy Commissioners with problems of people. 
“This is the first time police have been used against us. We do not want the DC who does not want to hear people,” she said. 
Coming down strongly against police, Ms. Dinker accused Assistant Commissioner of Police T.R. Jagannath and Sub Inspector Bharati of speaking with the five in a vulgar manner. Mr. Jagannath pushed her and few others away, while a constable standing behind her put his stick on her back, Ms. Dinker said. 
Mr. Jagannath did not call women police despite there being a need. The police arrested Ashok Amin, who was not at all related to the issue, she said. 
At the police station, Ms. Dinker said the police refused to allow her to speak with her father H.C. Dinker and advocate for nearly two hours. “Police have thrown all set norms to support a private company. The nexus of DC and police (in allowing the work) lies exposed,” she said. 
Ms. Dinker said the ongoing work of MSEZ was in contrary to the stipulation by the CRZ authorities that it should be done on the landward side of the existing Road. 
“What they are doing in wrong. We are taking up this matter before the High Court,” she said. They would also thinking of legal recourse over the misconduct of policemen, Ms. Dinker added. 
Dismissing the allegation of collusion, the Deputy Commissioner told The Hindu that MSEZ's corridor project had been approved by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and it was for the Ministry to monitor the work. He had gone to the area following complaints of violation of Coastal Regulatory Zone norms. “I have directed the MSEZ to remove the mud wherever I found violation,” he said. 
Mr. Gowda said MSEZ had sought police protection to commence work. The arrest on Thursday was because of a complaint by MSEZ accusing residents of obstructing its work, he said. 
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