Bangalore will be hit by a series of blasts in the near future. The places where the blasts will take place include the high-security Vidhana Soudha, Karnataka High Court and other areas in the heart of the capital. If this sounds like an Intelligence Bureau terror alert, worry not. The blasts -- highly controlled -- will be carried out under official supervision to facilitate the construction of the Metro passing through these areas.

Providing expertise for this 'controlled blasting' in the thickly populated areas of Bangalore is the department of mining engineering, National Institute of Technology - Karnataka (NIT-K), Surathkal. The department, which has already received the work order from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC), will sign an MoU with the corporation at NIT-K shortly.

Under this consultancy project, lasting for two years, and which will bring NIT-K a sizable amount by way of "consultation fee", the research group of the department would advise BMRC on controlled blasting. The group will assign permissible levels of vibration that such controlled blasting would set off, for contractors appointed by BMRC to work on. This will be done without causing any damage to buildings.

V R Sastry, professor of mining engineering, told The Times of India on Wednesday that work on the Metro in future would require this technology, as they will encounter hard rock. "The engineers were able to carry out work on the current stretch of this project, that was on softer rock formation, and a piling machine did the job for them," he said. The next phase would be more challenging, he added.

The research group from the department would visit and assess the site where such blasting has to be done and give necessary approval, keeping in mind the type, age and sensitivity of buildings in the vicinity. "This is application of theory into actual practice," Sastry said, adding that the consultancy project is the biggest one for the department so far. The department undertook a similar consultancy for MRPL II Phase, lasting 11 months.