BANGALORE: The IT city is gearing up for the opening of the much-awaited Namma Metro Project. But, the virtual world has shared its apprehension online about the success of the project, narrow approach, efforts to decongest traffic and the last mile journey.From software professionals to business executives, ‘netizens’ are not sure if they want to leave the comfort of their vehicles for the Metro. Adding to this paradigm is the fact that the present connectivity is only of about 6.7 km, which serves only a fraction of the population. “I am not being benefited by the current metro line which is due to be opened”, Anupam said and added that the much-hyped project “does not serve any purpose to him.” He said he was not willing to give up his car to depend on an inadequate travel system. “The current route that is going to be in use is from Indiranagar to M G Road, if I am not wrong. They are the two most posh areas in town. Why would the affluent use the Metro? It’s not going to be of any use and the gridlock on our roads will continue, at least for a while, until other routes are opened,” said Amrutha Raman, another netizen.Shreya wrote that Metro connected places which were already well connected. “I would have preferred it if the first phase connected the outskirts to the city, because that is the actual ‘pain’ point. Also, that is where most people live.” She added that currently taking Metro would involve changing between modes of transport for “very little benefit” and hoped that phase II would be more productive.The apprehension spreads far beyond Reach 1 of the project. “Metro was a project that should have come up in the 90s or at least before the IT boom in the city. That way people would have depended on public transport and not purchased cars and bikes. Since there has been a delay of more than a decade, people are unwilling to put their trust back into public transport and with good reason,” said Venkat, a business executive in the city.Amidst apprehensions IT trainer Pallavi Kiran was wishful and said she would use the Metro and hoped that it would fulfil its purpose. In the same vein, Sagar Kumar Parida wrote, “Metro is the right solution to the ever-increasing traffic in Bangalore. Bangalore desperately needs an alternative mode of transportation, and Metro is the right alternative for the city’s traffic.”
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