Protest manufactured, backed by BJP: KJ George
George claimed that some organisations were trying to pass off their opposition to the project as public opinion.
Bengaluru: Dismissing the protest against the proposed steel bridge from Chalukya Circle to Hebbal as manufactured by rival political parties, Bengaluru Development Minister, K J George on Thursday claimed that some organisations were trying to pass off their opposition to the project as public opinion.
“Only a handful of people are against this project and they are being supported by some political parties. The opinion of these organisations cannot be considered as people's opinion. They want the government to act according to their diktats, but this is not possible because it has been democratically elected,” he asserted, speaking to reports here.
The minister also claimed that several individuals were trying to mislead people by using Facebook and Twitter to campaign against the flyover. “It is difficult to tell whether those accounts are fake or genuine. The government does not have any motive in carrying out this project other than to address the traffic situation,” he emphasised, accusing the BJP of opposing any developmental work taken up by the government.
“Unfortunately, they are not opposing the several bridges being constructed in Malleshwaram, the constituency of former BJP minister, S Suresh Kumar,” he deplored, continuing to give the controversy a political twist.
Noting that the Bangalore Development Authority had posted details of the project on its website to enable people to study it in detail, he said everything about it was transparent and there was nothing to hide.
“It’s true its cost has gone up by Rs 450 crore and we have sought a report on this from the technical team,” Mr George added. On the axing of over 800 trees along the steel bridge route, he said the government was committed to planting more to protect the city’s green cover.
While the proposed steel bridge would be a toll road the road below would not be tolled, he revealed. “A state- of- the- art toll plaza will be constructed on the flyover and the state Cabinet will decide on the toll to be paid,” he added.
Refusing to divulge any more details of the project as the matter was pending in court, he said the government would respect its verdict.