Has the Siddaramaiah government gone a bit too far in disregarding the massive outpouring of public anger against the controversial steel bridge project? Urban experts have rejected this hyper-expensive project while Bengalureans lined up in thousands on Sunday to form a human chain to make it known to those in power that this was a bridge no one wanted. But the government is hell-bent on axing 800 trees and splurging Rs 1800 cr on it. Seeing the hurry and ‘determination’ to get the project through, is there something more than what meets the eye?
Public opinion seems to count for little with the state government. Despite the thousands of Bengalureans, who turned up Sunday to form a human chain and protest its plan to build a steel flyover over a distance of 6.7 km between Chalukya Circle and Hebbal, allegedly in the interest of cutting down travel time to the international airport, the government remains steely in its resolve to go ahead with it.
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In fact, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has dismissed Sunday’s protest as of little importance, claiming the government has taken note of public opinion and 73 per cent of people in the city want the steel flyover. The fact that over 800 trees will bite the dust and the bridge will take Rs 1,800 crores to build doesn't seem to worry the powers that be, who otherwise are always complaining about a funds crunch. There hasn't been an effective rebuttal either to many of the arguments against the bridge, such as whether it makes sense to build it at such huge cost to the city's already heating up environment, when travel time is unlikely to be cut down significantly to the airport by its addition.
Siddaramaiah is a dictator who has scant respect and utter contempt for public opinion on the steel flyover. I take strong exception to the statement of the chief minister that opposition parties are politicising this issue. We are fighting the people’s cause, we are concerned about the state exchequer and we are bothered about ecology
– B.S. Yeddyurappa, State BJP President
Finding the government's refusal to consider public opinion unacceptable, senior BJP leader, Suresh Kumar says it cannot take unilateral decisions in such matters. “What is the meaning of democracy? It is not just providing voting rights to people. It also means allowing people to participate in governance and taking their opinion on issues of importance. So why is the government not taking note of public opinion?” he demanded, insisting that people from all walks of life should be allowed to come and give their views on the proposed steel bridge at a meeting in the BDA’s office before any final decision is taken. “The government must first listen to the people before it takes the project forward,” he stressed.
Accusing the government of being focused on the upper classes and the business community, Mr M.D. Harigovind, secretary, CPI, Bengaluru District Council, regrets that it is obsessed with the building white elephants in the form of flyovers and TTMCs. “The speed at which the government wants to implements this project makes the whole matter very suspicious. There seems to be a strong steel and timber lobby at work. When traffic in areas like the Silk Board and towards K.R. Puram is much worse than on the road leading to the international airport, the government is rushing with this project that will be of little use,” he added sadly.
The BDA has sought public opinion on the steel flyover and gone through all the responses, objections and suggestions. Most of them are in favour of the flyover.
— Rajkumar Khatri, BDA commissioner
‘BDA gives fake email ID & you speak of transparency!’
Experts flayed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s announcement that ‘opinions’ of the common man collected online was a farce. Not only did Namma Bengaluru Foundation CEO Sridhar Pabbisetty and Citizens Against Steel Flyover member Prakash Belwadi allege that the BDA had provided wrong email ID for citizens to give their opinions, the experts pointed out that there was no transparency in the way the government accumulated public response.
Mr Belwadi said, “The entire process was like asking a man if he is okay with his bride even without showing him the girl’s picture or giving her details. Now, if you want an opinion, how will you get one? How could have the common man given his opinion on the steel flyover when there was no mention of tree cutting, the design plan or the damages that the city will bear due to the project? Most importantly, while only some replies were accepted, most of the feedback was
rejected.”
What is the meaning of democracy? It is not just providing voting rights to people. It also means allowing them to participate in governance and taking their opinion on issues of importance. So why is the government not taking note of public opinion?
— Suresh Kumar, MLA
Mr Pabbisetty stressed that the BDA provided a wrong email ID and concerned citizens’ replies only bounced, while the government never got a chance to hear the opinions of the common man. “The state government closed the entire feedback process in 48 hours with mere 299 emails. Prior to this, a wrong ID was given and even before more citizens could give their opinion, the work order was prepared and the government is closed to the common man’s opinions,” he said.
Flyover will be redundant in 5 years: Traffic expert
“Going by my 42 years of experience in the field of transport, I can safely say that if this steel bridge is built, it will become redundant in five years,” says traffic expert, M.N. Srihari. He goes on to explain, “The rate at which the city is swelling and personal vehicles are increasing, the steel bridge, if constructed, will see a large number of vehicles trying to use it and get to the airport. When you have such a rush of vehicles all trying to use the bridge, how will it reduce traffic or travel time?”
In fact, in his view, the steel flyover will only increase travel time to the airport rather than reduce it. For one, he points out, it will be six-lane while the Hebbal flyover it will eventually touch is four- lane. What can you expect but a mess in such a situation, he asks.
“Then there is the plan to toll the bridge. Will the toll booth be able to cater to thousands of vehicles which will queue up at peak time?” I don’t think so,” he adds, emphatically stating, “Building flyover after flyover is not going to solve Bengaluru’s traffic troubles. The only solution is to improve mass transport like the Metro Rail, Monorail, Light Rail Transit and Bus Rapid Transit system. All these mass transport systems can carry over 20,000 people per hour from one point to another. Can roads and flyovers facilitate such mass movement of people?” he reasons.
Echoing the views of many, who are against the project, he says the kind of interest the Congress government is showing in the project is highly suspicious and could leave it facing accusations of throwing the city’s welfare to the winds mainly for some promised kickbacks.
