Bengaluru metro doubles coaches to 6 on one route
Bengaluru, June 22: The Bengaluru Metro rail operator on Friday doubled coaches to six from three to ferry more commuters on the east-west Purple Line.
Amid fanfare, the six-coach swanky service was flagged off by Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy in presence of Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri at Baiyappanahalli station in the east to Mysuru Road station in the west via Kempegowda station in the city centre.
Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Bengaluru Development G. Parameshwara, Chief Secretary Ratna Prabha, city mayor R. Sampath Raj and Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) Managing Director Mahendra Jain along with Kumaraswamy and Puri took a ride on the six-coach train after it was flagged off 40 minutes behind the schedule.
The three additional coaches, manufactured by the state-run Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), were added to one of the metro trains on the east-west purple line, with the first coach reserved for women and children.
The additional cars were added seven years after the service was launched in October 2011 and a year after the former President Pranab Mukherjee opened the entire 43km phase-1 of the metro network, including the north-south green line.
Incidentally, the foundation stone for the metro project was laid by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2006, when Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister.
The three cars were handed over by BEML to BMRCL in February this year, after which it took nearly four months for them to be integrated with the metro trains and tested.
The metro service, which opened to the public in June 2017 after several deadlines were missed, has not eased the traffic congestion on the city's arterial roads as it covers a mere 43 km of the 800 km city with ever-expanding suburbs.
Currently, at least four lakh people use the Bengaluru metro each day for commute on its north-south green line and east-west purple line, the latter being the busier route among the two.
The addition of metro coaches aims at easing the peak hour rush.
By June 2019, the BMRCL aims for all the 50 metro trains running on the two lines to have six coaches instead of three.
With the addition of three coaches to each of the city's 50 metro trains, the number of passengers to ride the metro each day is expected to double to about eight lakh.
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Rising raw material costs push kite prices up by 40% ahead of Makar Sankranti festival
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): A sharp increase in raw material costs has led to a nearly 40 per cent rise in kite prices this year, affecting manufacturers ahead of the Makar Sankranti festival.
The minimum price of a kite, which was Rs 5 last year, has increased to Rs 7, a manufacturer told PTI.
The Rajput family from the Buddi Lane area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has been engaged in the kite-making business for over 60 years. They supply kites across Maharashtra and to neighbouring states.
Every year, both local and outstation buyers flock to their shops during the festive season. At present, kite manufacturing is in full swing at the Rajput brothers’ workshops.
Speaking about the price hike, kite manufacturer Anil Rajput said there has been a significant rise in the cost of raw materials compared to last year.
"Last year, the paper rim cost us Rs 900, which has increased to Rs 1,100 this year. A bundle of 1,000 bamboo sticks earlier cost Rs 1,050, but the price has almost doubled to around Rs 2,000," he said.
He added that the increase in production costs has directly impacted kite prices.
"The minimum price of a kite was Rs 5 last year, which has gone up to Rs 7 this year. We now have to convince customers about the revised rates,” he said.
Rajput also expressed concern about the future of the traditional family business.
"Kite making involves heavy physical labour. Our younger generation is not interested in continuing this work. At our age, we cannot switch professions, so we continue to run the business to support our family," he said.
The family works long hours, often starting at 9 am and continuing until 2 am.
"My wife was paralysed earlier, but as she is recovering, she has also started helping us with the work," he said.
Govardhan Rajput, another family member, said kite making is their ancestral occupation and continues throughout the year, with peak activity beginning after the Ganesh festival in August–September.
"Our kites are supplied to places like Nizamabad in Telangana, as well as Nanded, Vaijapur and Yeola," he said, adding that the family expects business to pick up significantly in the coming days with Makar Sankranti approaching.
