Bengaluru: Despite bitter criticism, top government sources have told Deccan Chronicle that the government was determined to go ahead with the Rs 1,800 crore steel flyover and that work on the bridge would start as early as next month. That’s not all. In an unspoken admission that the criticism of the city's cognoscenti has had an effect, work on the steel flyover will begin, not from Chalukya Circle as originally planned but from Esteem Mall, just ahead of the Hebbal trumpet flyover. This will scotch opposition criticism that could have a negative impact on elections in 2018.
“We are doing this to ‘neutralise’ the opposition to the steel flyover project,” insiders who advise beleagured Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said.
“In the first phase, we plan to build a steel flyover from Esteem Mall till Mekhri Circle which will have three ramps. This will demonstrate to people how good this steel flyover is. Once people start using it, all opposition to it, will die a natural death. Thereafter, we extend the steel flyover from Mekhri Circle to Chalukya Circle," highly placed sources in the government told Deccan Chronicle.
Explaining the political rationale behind this, the senior leader, said that this strategy was being adopted with the aim of killing off the entire issue before the next elections begin. "If we start work from the Chalukya Circle side, there will be resistance. If we start with the pre-fabricated structure from the opposite side, we expect no opposition there. Our objective is to see to it that this issue should not become a poll issue in the next election in 2018. On the contrary, we would like to finish the first phase and make people see how convenient the steel flyover is. That will help us go to the people and flaunt the achievement during polls and counter the BJP and part of the civil society who are opposing our project,” the top source revealed.
