No order to roll back metro fare hike: BMRCL sources
Bengaluru (PTI): There have been no directions to roll back the revised metro rail fares, which are set to come into effect from Monday, sources in the BMRCL said on Sunday.
The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited had recently announced a fare hike ranging from Re 1 to Rs 5.
"We have not received any direction to roll back Metro fares. Therefore, whatever was announced earlier will hold," a BMRCL official told PTI.
BJP MP from Bengaluru South, Tejasvi Surya, on Saturday said that Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar had instructed officials to temporarily put the proposed Metro fare hike in the city on hold.
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Surya said the union minister also assured a personal review of anomalies in the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) and added that a fresh committee could be considered if the state government requested it.
Earlier in the day, Surya interacted with Metro rail commuters and sought their views on the fare hike.
Later, speaking to reporters, he said commuters were upset over frequent fare revisions.
The BJP MP alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar were "misleading the public by blaming the Centre for the fare hike."
Surya demanded the constitution of a Fare Fixation Committee (FFC).
Meanwhile, Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy blamed the state government for the Metro fare hike.
"After increasing Metro fares, the state government is passing the buck to the Centre, which is untrue," the JD(S) second-in-command told reporters in Mysuru.
He alleged that despite the Centre asking the state government not to implement the hike, it was insisting on going ahead with it.
Kumaraswamy further charged that the state government was unwilling to maintain a good relationship with the Centre for the implementation of Central schemes and policies.
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Fire breaks out at Nature Bazaar in south Delhi, around 50 shops gutted
New Delhi (PTI): A major fire broke out at Nature Bazaar in south Delhi's Andheria Mor area on Sunday morning, gutting around 50 shops and triggering a massive firefighting operation, an official of the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) said.
According to the DFS, a call regarding the blaze was received at 7.37 am, following which 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to control the flames. No injury to anyone has been reported so far.
The fire erupted at the Nature Bazaar market located near Andheria Mor in the Lado Sarai area, where several temporary and semi-permanent shops selling handicrafts and other items are set up, he said.
Thick plumes of smoke were seen billowing from the market complex as the fire rapidly spread through multiple shops in the crowded marketplace.
Firefighters launched an extensive operation to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading further.
Around 50 shops were gutted in the incident, causing heavy damage to goods and structures, the officer said.
Fire personnel were continuing efforts to completely douse the flames and carry out cooling operations in the area. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
Police officers also reached the spot to assist in crowd management and facilitate firefighting operations.
