The “coincidences” in the execution of the steel flyover project point not just to the political affliction of the “disease of gigantism” but also to a hurry to pocket money before elections, said Ramachandra Guha, historian at an expert consultation programme organised by the opponents of the project. He believed post-independence India had a fixation with mega and large projects to “showcase modern India”.
“(Jawaharlal) Nehru had started mega projects and called them the temples of Modern India. However, he later regretted some of the projects he started. If these projects were taken up by folly then, it is through fraud that these projects are taken up,” he said. “The bigger the project, the bigger the cut,” he said.
Mr. Guha believed there were multiple dubious coincidences in the project: lack of public debate, the stubborn persistence of the project as elections loom over the State; and the lack of government interest in the project when K.J. George had been temporarily relieved of his portfolio.
Similarly, at the programme, architect Naresh Narasimhan believed “smaller projects” to tackle bottle-necks of Hebbal flyover, Cauvery junction, Windsor Manor junction and mere traffic diversions at Chalukya will aid in smoother movement to the airport.
