Green groups win, K'taka govt scraps Rs 1,800 cr B'luru steel flyover project

Bengaluru: Karnataka government has scrapped the project to construct a steel bridge flyover in Bengaluru to ease traffic between the city and its international airport.

A decision has been taken to scrap the steel bridge. I have already spoken to the Chief Minister," NDTV quoted Bengaluru city development minister K George as saying.

The decision seems to have been taken after the controversy over an alleged diary that the Income Tax department recovered from Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's parliamentary secretary K Govindraju during raids last year.

The diary allegedly has an entry of Rs 65 crores against a mention of a steel bridge. The opposition has alleged that the amount was a bribe paid for the project.

Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa has claimed abbreviations of the names of top Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Digvijaya Singh and party treasurer Motilal Vohra, were also mentioned in the diary. He alleged that bribes were paid to these leaders.

The project, which required an investment of about Rs 1,800 crore, had faced backlash from the people of Bengaluru as about 812 trees had to be chopped off for the construction of 6.7 km-long steel bridge.

As many as 8,000 people, including prominent personalities like actor and film maker Prakash Belawadi, BJP MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar and BJP spokesperson S Suresh Kumar had protested against the project.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had stayed the construction of the bridge following massive protests in the city.