BENGALURU: The city is all set to witness another uprising along the lines of the very effective #Steelflyoverbeda campaign, which managed to get the controversial flyover project scrapped. This time around, the campaign is to stop the ambitious six elevated-corridors project announced by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday in the state budget. With an outlay of Rs 15,825 crore, the elevated corridors will cover 95 km in total and connect far away areas such as Hebbal and Silk Board, Minerva Circle and NICE Road Junction on Outer Ring Road and Varthur Kodi to Richmond Circle.
There will be a loop road in the Central Business District area which will connect Hudson Circle, Richmond Circle, Double Road, JC Road and Shantinagar. Perhaps the strongest argument Bengalureans have against it is that it could encourage more people to buy vehicles, as the flow of traffic improves. “Bengaluru will be dotted with hundreds of kilometers of elevated roads. This project needs expert peer review and an understanding of how this fits with the overall mobility plan for Bengaluru. This project could make the city unliveable at ground level,” said V Ravichandar, an urban expert.
A set of around 30 volunteers have begun the onerous task of calling up MLAs and seeking their support against the project. “On Saturday, we have a meeting where many people will come to discuss ideas such as pod taxis and elevated corridors and plan out the future course of action. We have been trying to meet HD Kumaraswamy and G Parameshwara but have not been successful,” said Srinivas Alavilli of Citizens for Bengaluru, an umbrella group for several resident welfare associations and citizen activists.
However, a group of citizens also said that this is welcome in a city ridden with traffic woes. “We need elevator corridors but in the right place. Also, most of the elevated corridors in the city fail because they later make it a two-way. I would prefer road widening over elevated corridors because it is cheaper and less riskier, also elevated corridors could result in failure of commercial complexes leading to a loss for BBMP,” said Murali V, secretary of Ulsoor Welfare Association.
(With inputs from Sharath Manjunath, B Shivani and Halima Sadiya)