BENGALURU: Citizen groups demanding better integration of transport modes in the city are exploring the legal angle over Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) for not conducting proper public consultations before its projects. Addressing mediapersons at the Press Club on Wednesday, N S Mukunda of the Citizens Action Forum (CAF) called the consultations held by BMRCL before its projects as ‘a sham.’
He said that Metro’s projects cost upto `40,000 crore, adding that it was the tax payer’s money. “We are contemplating the legal issues as no public consultation has been done on such a big project. Stating that any public project that crosses over `5 crore need to be put in the public domain, Mukunda said, “We are exploring if BMRCL is violating the court orders.” Srinivas Alavilli of Citizens for Bengaluru also demanded proper public consultations before projects.
The groups are organising a citizen’s Round Table on ‘Namma Metro and Public Transport’ on October 7 at Rotary House of Friendship on Lavelle Road between 4 pm and 6 pm. Tr a n s p o r t at i o n e x p e r t s , politicians and representatives from BMRCL, Bruhata Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Traffic police, Railways and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) have been invited to take part in the discussion. It is open to the public.