With two alternative roads to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and suburban rail project taking off, the central argument for a steel flyover on Ballari Road itself has fizzled out, volunteers of the Citizens for Bengaluru (CFB) have argued in the run-up to the Monday’s hearing of the case by the National Green Tribunal.
“The survey for two alternative roads to the KIA from the Outer Ring Road has been completed. An MoU for suburban rail project is a great step from the government, which we welcome. We demand that the government immediately take up development of a halt station at trumpet interchange (road leading to the airport) and start shuttle train services,” said Srinivas Alavilli, CFB, at a press conference here on Saturday.
The railway line is practically next to the trumpet interchange and can serve over a lakh people, including over 15,000 employees of Bangalore International Airport Ltd., if shuttle services are started from all commercial hubs of the city to the KIA, he said. “Development of a halt station like the one at Hoodi will cost less than ₹1 crore and MPLAD funds of the local MP, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, can be used for it. We appeal to him to take it up and complete the project within six months,” said architect Naresh Narasimhan who is associated with the CFB.
The activists criticised Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George’s recent statement that “people with private jets were opposing the steel flyover to the airport”. “The statement smacks of disrespect to democratic movements and people’s voice in the city. It is flippant and callous of Mr. George,” a CFB statement said, and demanded that the State government respect public opinion, withdraw the case in the NGT and the High Court, and scrap the project and the tender immediately.
CFB volunteers, who participated in some of the public consultation meetings on the Revised Master Plan – 2031 recently, said that in every meeting, people rejected the BDA’s authority to plan for the city as the Metropolitan Planning Committee was tasked with the planning function. “Moreover, none of the presentations made had the steel flyover or the network of 125-km-long elevated corridors planned for in the city at a cost of over ₹20,000 crore. Of what value is the master plan if such major projects are not part of it and still can be implemented,” Prakash Belawadi sought to know.
CFB alleges new green violations
The present alignment of the proposed steel flyover passes through the buffer zone of not one, but two lakes, activists of the Citizens for Bengaluru have alleged.
“It is evident that the proposed extension of the steel flyover over the Hebbal flyover will pass within the 75-m buffer zone of Hebbal lake. But we have now found that the alignment is just 39 m away from a lake within the Palace Grounds. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) order is clear that there should be no development within 75-m buffer zone, which would be violated in this case,” Tara Krishnaswamy of the CFB said on Saturday.
Not just that, the much-debated figure of 812 trees — which would have to be cut for the project — is also likely to be questioned. CFB volunteer Deepti Sudhindra is conducting tree mapping along Ballari Road. “At the preliminary count itself, we have exceeded 800 trees between Basaveshwara Circle and Mehkri Circle. We have submitted the data collected to senior researchers at Indian Institute of Science and will soon come out with a tree mapping report,” Ms. Sudhindra said.
