S Lalitha By Express News Service BENGALURU: To put in place its underground stations and tunnels for Metro Phase-II from Vellara Junction to Tannery Road, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited will require 1,200 sqm of land inside the premises of the Veterinary Super Speciality Hospital near Cantonment Railway Station. In the process, it will have to demolish two old buildings here. A letter from BMRCL Managing Director Ajay Seth to the Secretary of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Rajini Sekhri Sibal on November 14 has asked for the land to be handed over to it on a temporary basis for three years. The 13.92 km underground corridor between Diary Circle and Nagawara, figures in the 21 km Nagawara-Gottigere Line. The contract for the segment from Vellara Junction to Tannery Road has been given to Larsen & Turbo. Explaining the need for the land belonging to the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries department, the letter states that four Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) will be put in operation along the corridor, two from the Shivajinagar end and two from the Cantonment end. In connection with the huge electrical requirements for operating the TBMs and other works, arrangements were being made to provide 66KV power from a substation located at Cantonment station. The land would be required to install equipment required to supply this power. “Underground power cables would need to be laid from the land to roads nearby through the Veterinary Hospital,” it said. It has promised to provide land in an alternate location shortly and to rebuild the buildings that would be razed down following the completion of Metro work within three years. Meanwhile, for the last few years, the process of transforming the hospital into a super speciality one, which would provide specialised healthcare for animals, is under way. The Animal Husbandry Secretary told The New Indian Express said that she was yet to examine the details of the letter. “Our priority is animal welfare and we need to ensure they should not put under any stress in the process. Moreover, many of our old buildings have been declared as Heritage Areas. We will have to take a call bearing in mind the structural and heritage aspects of our buildings,” she said. BMRCL MD did not respond to queries in this connection. The Chief Public Relations Officer Y L Yashwanth Chavan too refused to say anything about it.

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