Bengaluru steel flyover: Beda' activists fight on

BENGALURU: The fight against the steel flyover has taken on epic proportions, with the government fighting back as hard as it possibly can, for a project that could mean huge personal gains. The members of Citizens for Bengaluru, the common man's army, however, intends to keep the momentum going, in the hope that the project will, in the face of such opposition, be forced to die a natural death.

Sources from Citizens Action Forum (CAF), compared this prolonged protest to that against the privatisation of Venkatappa Art Gallery.

The sustained protests and creative initiatives to spread awareness led to the government finally losing interest and either shelving or revoking the proposed projects.

Activists have adopted a creative approach to their activities, by organizing a 5000-member strong human chain, a roundtable meet, a satyagraha, the #beda vote, call your MP/ MLA campaign, tweets to national media and leaders and even art to express their vehement opposition. Urban development lessons were also held for schoolchildren, through a group of volunteers.

The #chuckubukubeku (we want commuter trains) is the latest on the list. Sources at CAF, the chief petitioners against the flyover project, say that commuter rail is the most feasible answer to our problems. Sources in CAF said that they are preparing a detailed report with statistics to support their case, which will be presented to the high court.

The flyover will only shift the problem from one place to another and will not be a solution to the burgeoning traffic within the city. Traffic piles up at Chalukya Circle like never before and it would be a real challenge to traffic cops to handle the situation, added sources.

However, they vowed to fight the project until the next assembly polls are announced and to galvanise support from the opposition parties too, said sources.