Govt not shaken, rock the bridge, rock the bridge!

The 7 km steel flyover that has kept Bengaluru on the boil will not only kill over 800 trees, but heat up the entire northern parts of the city as thousands of tonnes of steel will dominate Ballari Road. An IISc environmental scientist warns that the city, which was once known for its salubrious weather, will never be the same again.

As public debate rages over the 6.7 km long steel flyover planned between Chalukya Circle and Hebbal, a senior scientist of the Indian Institute of Science,  T V Ramachandra, warns it could do more harm to the city’s environment, which has already taken a beating due to its  growing concretisation in the face of a rising population.  

Recalling that the summer temperature of the city in the 1800s was between 14 to 15 degrees Celsius, he points out that it is in the thirties range now. Squarely blaming the over 88 per cent decline in its vegetation, and 78 per cent dip in its water bodies for this  rise in temperature, Mr Ramachandra  warns that if the government goes ahead with chopping of more trees for the proposed steel flyover, Bengaluru could get even hotter in future.

"Bengaluru has a population of over 95 lakh, but has only 14,78,000 trees. Instead of planting more of them, the government is preparing to axe 812 trees fully grown trees, which is condemnable. Today whenever you enter the stretch from Chalukya circle to Hebbal, you can feel the temperature dipping by a degree or two due to the green cover in the area. But if the government goes ahead with this project, the temperature is bound to go up here ,” says the scientist.

Norms changed to mass murder trees!
Although the BDA has announced that 812 trees will be felled for the steel flyover, it has not obtained permission from the Tree Council, which is to be set up under the High Court's order in 2010, for mass cutting of trees.

The project should not have been formulated without first debating the loss of greenery it would cause. According to green activists, this decision is in the August 7 2014 direction of the Karnataka High Court in WP 7288/2011, a PIL taken up Suo Moto by the Court in response to serious concerns raised by then Judge of the High Court, Justice Shylendra Kumar, over the mass felling of trees in Bangalore.

In this order, apart from many innovative aspects introduced to protect greenery, the Court had observed: “We deem it necessary to direct that felling of trees would be undertaken as an exception rather than a rule, and further that the tree officer and tree authority would fully satisfy themselves and certify that all other alternatives have been considered regarding the feasibility of the felling of trees. If any objections are received from the public, due consideration shall be given by assigning reasons.”

Several laws and the Constitution are being ignored by the government in pursuing this project. “The project is being pursued in haste. Green and heritage spaces on this road, including the Bangalore Golf Club, Carlton House and Balabrooie Guest House are under imminent threat of damage,” members of Citizens of Bengaluru alleged.

Beku: 1,000 saplings for 800 trees cut
While  the 'steel flyover beda' brigade got 41,848 votes recently,   the 'steel flyover beku' brigade is refusing to accept defeat and is now planning to plant 1000 saplings in North Bengaluru to compensate for the  812 trees that will have to be cut for the project.

Arguing that a few sacrifices must be made for the sake of development, Dr Rajesh, president of the Dr Shivarama Karanth Nagara Welfare Association says to compensate for the trees that will  be axed,  over 1,000 saplings will be planted in North Bengaluru to begin with.

“The Resident Welfare Associations of North Bengaluru have already approached the forest department for  supply of these saplings free of cost. If it doesn’t oblige, we are hoping to get sapling at a discounted price from nurseries in and around our area and will pool money from various RWAs to buy them," he explains. Although acknowledging that the saplings will take years to grow,  Dr Rajesh contends they offer “ a permanent solution " for the loss of the fully grown trees.  

Besides preparing to plant saplings, the people of North Bengaluru are preparing a powerpoint presentation on how many vehicles use  the Hebbal flyover, their average speed at peak hours, the additional fuel consumed due to low speed, the effect of pollution, the average additional time consumed per vehicle and so on for Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, MLA Viswanath, BDA Commissioner Dr Rajkumar Khatri and others,  to argue their case for the project.

Rs 2,200 cr to save 7-15 minutes of travel time!
The Citizens for Bengaluru has written an open letter to Members of Parliament and legislators. ‘‘We believe it is in the interest of the city that you acquaint yourselves with the serious flaws of this project, so you can pose the right questions on its design, purpose and proposed execution.

The project involves building  a 6.7 km long six-lane steel flyover at an estimated cost of Rs 2,200 crore to save,  by the government's own admission, only between 7 to 15 minutes of travel time.

It will bring down 812 fully grown trees and erase heritage memories along one of the most verdant and beautiful stretches of our beloved city. The proposed project is being undertaken without the due consultation process required by the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961.

The consultation followed by the BDA in June 2016 was a sham, with the government claiming that 73 per cent of the 299 responses received by e-mail and telephone calls approved of the proposal.

The Detailed Project Report, prepared more than a year ago, itself was released only on October 15 this year after widespread public protests. The BDA, in its original notification of June 27, 2016, did not specify the details of the project, such as loss of green cover or the intended public space acquisition. So what were the 219 responses approving?

The knee-jerk idea of extending the flyover beyond Hebbal lake is alarming as it could be right through the lake.  This could make the government at risk of inviting contempt of  court action as the High Court order  on the Environment Support Group and ors. versus the state of Karnataka and ors said the lakes must be protected from any further encroachment and  specified a "no-development zone" 30 meters from their legal limits.

The court also specifically directed that even walking paths could not come up around the lakes. We request you to seek an urgent vetting of the proposal by a genuine  panel of experts,   the institution of an inquiry into the framing of this project proposal and call for cancellation of the tender.”

Sridhar Pabbisetty, a member of Citizens Against Steel Flyover and CEO, Namma Bengaluru Foundation
For over three weeks now, thousands of Bengalureans have said a firm “No” to the proposed steel flyover. Not only did over 8,000 citizen form a human chain to oppose this adhoc decision, but over 40,000 citizens signed an online petition too to send their message across. And now 41,848 Bengalureans have voted against this steel monster. The numbers clearly prove that  BDA’s claim of public opinion being overwhelmingly in favour of the project is a lie.

Strangely, the government is being secretive about the project and is not even entertaining RTI queries about it. It has not transparent about the project and nor has any real attempt been made to make the public feedback available to all.

The BDA too called for public consultation without giving all the necessary details about such a big project.  The people are now waiting anxiously for the government’s next move. Will their voice be heard? While the city waits for these answers, we urge those who are opposing the steel flyover to continue with the #SteelFlyoverBeda chant and stop vested interests from destroying Bengaluru.

Dr Rajesh, president of Dr Shivarama Karanth Nagara Welfare
This steel flyover has many advantages. Currently it takes around 45 minutes to reach Chalukya Circle from the Esteem Mall in Kempapura and the traffic congestion is a frequent source of stress, anxiety and anger to commuters. If the proposed flyover is built, this travel time will be brought down to 15 minutes,  giving huge relief to people.

Also, with over three lakh vehicles using the Hebbal flyover every day, the traffic crawls and vehicles end up wasting fuel. We could save upto Rs 10 crore in fuel alone if this flyover becomes a reality as it will lead to better traffic flow.  Slow moving vehicles also emit more smoke than usual, adding to pollution. Not only will this be taken care of if the flyover is built here , but  time wasted on the road due to traffic congestion could be invested in something more productive. In fact, the bridge could even become an important tourist attraction like the Howrah bridge of Kolkata.