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Residents living along Bannerghatta Road in Bengaluru on September 28 staged a unique protest by symbolically inaugurating the Metro Pink Line. They cut a ribbon to highlight the repeated delays in opening the 7.5-km elevated section and demanded that the service be started at the earliest.
Bengaluru Metro's Pink Line: Residents Demand an Early Opening
The protest took place after the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) failed to meet its September-end target for opening the elevated stretch between Kalena Agrahara and Tavarekere. The section is ready for operation but is awaiting the required inspection by the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) before commercial services can begin.
A resident said people had been hearing about the opening of the line for several months, but the proposed deadline kept changing. The symbolic ribbon-cutting was intended to draw attention to the delay and the residents' demand for the line to become operational soon.
Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda inspected the corridor on September 2 and said that the civil and elevated works were ready. He had earlier stated that the stretch could be opened after receiving the necessary approvals from the Centre.
The opening target has been revised several times. Mr. Gowda had initially set August 15, 2026, as the target for opening the elevated portion. He also said that the remaining underground section between Tavarekere and Nagawara was expected to be completed by March 2027.
The 21.3-km Pink Line consists of 7.5 km of elevated track and 13.8 km of underground track. The underground section will pass through important areas including Dairy Circle, M.G. Road, Shivajinagar, and Tannery Road, creating a north-south Metro connection through central Bengaluru.