The state government on Saturday said the contentious steel flyover from Chalukya Circle to Hebbal was not a prestige issue for it.
At an interaction programme - Janaspandana - organised by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bengaluru Development Minister K J George said, "It's not a VIP flyover as has been projected. It's also not true that the government has made it an issue of prestige. The fact is that the project was first mooted in 2010 (by the then BJP government). Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced it in the 2014 budget."
According to George, the flyover's total length will be 13 km, including the various up and down ramps. The flyover is part of the 120-km-long east-west corridor across the city.
The Janaspandana event turned into a forum for people to question the rationale behind building the steel flyover by axing 812 trees. They expressed shock and dismay at the government's move to disregard the strong public opposition to the flyover.
As the participants demanded answers, George said that it would not be appropriate for him to speak on the project as the matter was pending before the National Green Tribunal. Nonetheless, he maintained that the flyover was intended to ease traffic congestion.
Waste-to-energy plants
During the interaction, George stressed the need to instal more waste-to-energy plants to address the garbage problem in the city. He said the government intended to use abandoned quarries to dump the waste and later turn them into public gardens on the lines of Lalbagh and Cubbon Park. "One such quarry has been filled. The work to develop it into a tree park will start in a fortnight," he said.
When some residents complained that TenderSURE roads were not maintained well, the minister said he would ensure that notices were served on the contractors. People also raised the dumping of construction materials on the road, that causes traffic jams. Manjunath Prasad replied that contractors would be asked to stop the practice. If they fail to fall in line, their work commencement certificate will be cancelled.
People also asked questions about extending the Metro rail project to other parts of Bengaluru, and why the authorities had failed to check the peddling of banned substances such as ganja (marijuana) to students on Residency Road.
The state government on Saturday said the contentious steel flyover from Chalukya Circle to Hebbal was not a prestige issue for it.
At an interaction programme - Janaspandana - organised by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bengaluru Development Minister K J George said, "It’s not a VIP flyover as has been projected. It’s also not true that the government has made it an issue of prestige. The fact is that the project was first mooted in 2010 (by the then BJP government). Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced it in the 2014 budget.”
According to George, the flyover’s total length will be 13 km, including the various up and down ramps. The flyover is part of the 120-km-long east-west corridor across the city.
The Janaspandana event turned into a forum for people to question the rationale behind building the steel flyover by axing 812 trees. They expressed shock and dismay at the government’s move to disregard the strong public opposition to the flyover.
As the participants demanded answers, George said that it would not be appropriate for him to speak on the project as the matter was pending before the National Green Tribunal. Nonetheless, he maintained that the flyover was intended to ease traffic congestion.
Waste-to-energy plants
During the interaction, George stressed the need to instal more waste-to-energy plants to address the garbage problem in the city. He said the government intended to use abandoned quarries to dump the waste and later turn them into public gardens on the lines of Lalbagh and Cubbon Park. "One such quarry has been filled. The work to develop it into a tree park will start in a fortnight,” he said.
When some residents complained that TenderSURE roads were not maintained well, the minister said he would ensure that notices were served on the contractors. People also raised the dumping of construction materials on the road, that causes traffic jams. Manjunath Prasad replied that contractors would be asked to stop the practice. If they fail to fall in line, their work commencement certificate will be cancelled.
People also asked questions about extending the Metro rail project to other parts of Bengaluru, and why the authorities had failed to check the peddling of banned substances such as ganja (marijuana) to students on Residency Road.