Bamboo-designed metro station built by BMRCL

The Bamboo Bazar Metro Station by BMRCL would have bamboo interiors with native Indian bamboo used for environmentally friendly landscaping and design.

A first for Indian metro stations, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL)’s projected Bamboo Bazar Metro Station will have a fully bamboo interior design. According to Punati Shridhar, the former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chairman of the Bamboo Society of India (BSI), the BMRCL granted their proposal for a station with a bamboo theme. The New Indian Express reported that native Indian bamboo will also be utilised to green the medians under the metro trains and stations.

The New Indian Express was notified by Dr. KN Murthy, Executive Director of BSI, that Tripuran Bambusa tulda wood will be used for the station’s open spaces, landscaping, and crafts. Moreover, Bambusa multiplex would be built along a 5-kilometer section of Bannerghatta Road, which runs from Jayadeva Hospital to Meenakshi Temple. The next three months will see the start of construction on both projects, which are expected to cost between Rs 5 and Rs 6 crore. The exact price and amount of bamboo needed, however, are still being decided. The development of the metro station and the greening of the medians will be financed by the BMRCL through its corporate social responsibility funds.

While China has only seven million hectares of bamboo cultivation, it leads the world in production with 150 million tonnes compared to India’s 4.6 million tonnes, according to Shridhar, despite having the largest bamboo cultivation area in the world at 13.9 million hectares. Thus, using more Indian bamboo in building could increase both domestic output and demand. Furthermore, bamboo is going to be used in the construction of a metro station in Mumbai. Notably, bamboo is also used on the walls and flooring of the new Parliament building in New Delhi, as well as the interiors of Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport’s Terminal 2.

The JP Nagar 4th Phase to Kempapura and Hosahalli line is one of the two additional lines that will be part of the 44.65 km Phase 3 of the Bengaluru Metro, which the Union Government just approved.

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