Despite the public outcry against the steel flyover, the state government has refused to scrap the project. Insiders suggest that the real estate mafia and developers, who have land parcels and mega townships along the proposed route, have forced the state government to aggressively pursue the controversial flyover. When there are many economically viable options, why is the government more interested in benefiting builders who want to cut travel time to their projects, ask protestors. Shwetha Satyanarayan and Aknisree Karthik report
Less than 3 km from the GKVK campus near Hebbal, a 65-acre township housing 20 blocks of apartment complexes is all set to woo potential property owners. Apart from the customary amenities like landscaped gardens, pools, clubhouse and jogging tracks, the builders promise that those who would like to own a property here will ‘benefit’ in a special way – easy access to the apartment via a turnpike flyover!
Well no prizes for guessing that L&T, which has bagged the tender to build the steel flyover from Chalukya Circle to Esteem Mall, is the same builder who is offering this special benefit at the upcoming project, Raintree Boulevard in Bytarayanapura!
Surprisingly, though the project is still in its pre-launch phase and the steel flyover has not even begun construction, the builders have decided that the flyover will offer easy access to the city for those who live here.
A citizen activist, who wished to remain anonymous, explained, “There are many reports and rumours as to why the state government is refusing to give in to public demand. If the project is expected to generate funds for the Uttar Pradesh elections, the other allegation is that the state government first called the tender and the Cabinet approved the project later. However, it still remains a mystery how the builders were certain about the toll flyover and that it would be constructed by them. The tenders for the steel flyover were not floated or awarded to L&T when the Raintree project was announced. Isn’t it easier to believe that the real estate mafia is running the show for the state government?”
Additionally, leading to more suspicions, L&T on its Raintree Boulevard website has announced, “L&T Realty has made sure that the undertaking has a fantastic availability to every created urban base. For example, it offers speedier access through a turnpike flyover arranged from Hotel Chalukya to Hebbal and is close to Kempegowda International Airport. The inhabitants can come to Bangalore city in a brief time frame.”
The activist said that the brochures that were distributed in and around Hebbal recently highlighted that special connectivity would be offered to Raintree Boulevard via the steel flyover. But the political class has stoutly proclaimed their non-involvement in the project.
Pawan Kumar of the acclaimed movie, U-Turn, who had announced a short film contest –Steel Flyover Yaake Beda (Why steel flyover is not needed), has received 165 entries till Monday. He told Deccan Chronicle, “We had invited film enthusiasts and students to make a one-minute video explaining why the city does not need a steel monster. Though we had not announced any cash prize for the best 3 films, more and more people are sending their movies against the flyover. A few schoolchildren too have made short videos. This shows the level of opposition among people for the controversial steel flyover". Mr Darsh Shankara, a film enthusiast who has sent an entry, said, “For the steel flyover we have to chop 800 trees. In my short movie, I have depicted that if we build a flyover to reduce our travel time by few minutes, we may in future have to carry oxygen cylinders with us.”
Monorail, commuter rail, options are many: Expert
Flyovers will not ease congestion. Many countries the world over that believed flyovers would help solve bottlenecks kept building these structures till they had to look for other options because the flyovers became redundant after some time.
The proposed controversial steel flyover too will become redundant in five years, warned traffic and engineering consultant M.N. Sreehari.
Suggesting alternatives to the flyover, he said, “A commuter train can be introduced on the railway tracks that already exist. Commuter trains can be run from the Bengaluru City Central, Cantonment and Whitefield stations up to Yerthiganahalli."
From Yerthiganahalli, the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) is just 8 km away and commuters, who get down there, can be moved to the airport in electric buses, he said.
“All that the government has to do is run trains from these stations to Yerthiganahalli every one hour. They can make use of the existing tracks and even if they want to build new tracks, they can do it at '10 crore per kilometer. Why is the government so keen on building this steel monster, when they have a solution in commuter rail,” he asked.
“A monorail can be operated from the Central College Grounds passing through Maharani's College, Chalukya Circle, Cauvery Junction, Mekhri Circle, Hebbal, Esteem Mall and beyond going up to KIA. The monorail can carry 15,000-20,000 passengers per direction per hour,” he explained.
On the cost of the monorail project, he said, “It costs much less than the steel flyover, which is now estimated at '270 crore per kilometer. The cost of monorail per kilometre will not cross '180 crore and the whole project can be completed within a year without causing much damage to the environment.”
Stating that there are many alternative roads to reach the airport from different directions of the city, he said: “People staying in central parts of the city can go to KIA via Mekhri Circle and Hebbal. Those in southeast and eastern parts can go through Thanisandra to reach Nagawara and Bagalur, and using the State Highway 104 they can reach KIA. Those from southern and western parts can pass through Yeshwanthpur, GKVK, Yelanka and reach the airport. People in the extreme east can go past K.R. Puram, Bagalur and using SH 104 can land at KIAL. Northeast residents can take Hoskote road, reach State Highway 35 and via Devanahalli can reach KIAL,” he rounded off.
Citizens are closely monitoring the developments related to the steel flyover project. They are vigilant and are determined to make democracy work. Hundreds of citizens who participated in the satyagraha on Sunday have reiterated that they have a say in how the cities are going to be built
— Sridhar Pabbisetty, CEO, Namma Bengaluru Foundation
We will keep the public pressure on till the tender is cancelled for the steel flyover. We request the government to listen to the public and scrap the project. It should start over on a new comprehensive plan for the city that puts pedestrians, bus and rail as top priorities — Srinivas Alavalli, founder-member, Citizens for Bengaluru
