The decision to widen the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway into an eight-lane road had evoked a mixed response from the public. While some have welcomed the move stating that it would not only reduce travel time and encourage tourism, others say that the project will be counter-productive as it will promote more vehicular traffic.
On December 29, a group of citizens will be staging a silent protest in the city against the project. They will be demanding introduction of more trains between the two cities instead of the project.
This will come ahead of the National Highway Authority of India's plan to start work on the project in January next year.
“We are not against widening. But, the road project has taken precedence over other better and environmentally sound solutions, such as introducing more trains between the cities,” said Krishna Prasad, member of Karnataka Railway Vedike.
The project, they said, will lead to unnecessary cutting of trees and acquiring of agricultural land. “Major part of the Bengaluru-Mysuru railway line has been doubled and electrified. Electrification needs to be completed only on the Yeliyur section, near Mandya. Once this is done, the railway can operate more trains. This will reduce the pressure on the road,” he said.
Railway can run MEMU trains every hour between the two cities. “The existing railway infrastructure can be upgraded with automatic block signalling,” said Narendra S., who will be participating in the protest.
“Introducing more trains is a valid demand. We must leverage trains in our tourist circuits. Metro and trains offer easy travel options to Mysuru from anywhere in the city,” said Srinivas Alavilli of Citizens for Bengaluru.
The protesters are expected to hand over a memorandum to officials of South Western Railway.
