The State Congress unit has firmly backed the proposed steel flyover saying the project is the only answer to the traffic chaos on Ballari road. Opposing the project on the grounds of financial cost and removal of trees is not justifiable.
Addressing mediapersons on Thursday, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao, Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda and MLC Rizwan Arshad strongly batted for the Rs. 1,791 crore project and said opposition parties, particularly the BJP, are protesting merely to gain political mileage.
They claimed that there is no substance in the BJP’s opposition since the project was first mooted when B.S. Yeddyurappa was the chief minister.
They ‘rubbished’ the BJP’s allegations that the project cost was escalated by Rs. 500 crore and said global tenders were called for executing the project. After earning the ‘IT’ tag, the city has earned a bad name owing to traffic congestion, they said.
Mr. Byre Gowda said toll would be collected from vehicle users to recover the cost. The city needs better infrastructure to ease movement of traffic, he said.
However, the Congress is not against protecting the city’s greenery. But some trees have to be sacrificed for construction of the steel flyover, Mr. Byre Gowda said.
