Drop anti-people airport flyover

The proposed 6.5 km, six-lane steel flyover from Chalukya circle to Hebbal junction in Bengaluru is not just an unwise and wasteful project but one which can do actual harm. This meddles with the natural flow of traffic, which basically is the movement of people, down below. The aim of the flyover is to connect the city’s central business district to the international airport. There were other plans for this which were either dropped or failed.

This too will not help, and should be dropped because it is riddled with problems and deficiencies, and ignores alternatives which are cheaper, better and more viable. There is no public interest involved and it seems other interests were at play when it was given the green signal. Flyovers everywhere have proved that they are no solution to traffic problems. They only shift congestion and chaos from one spot to another. The K R Puram flyover which was once touted as the ultimate remedy for Old Madras Road’s ills has only worsened the gridlock there. The faulty design of Richmond Circle flyover has not solved the problem of congestion faced by connecting roads. The National College flyover was built when there was no need for it and despite local residents’ opposition. The Sirsi Circle too has not helped matters.

Both ends of the proposed steel flyover will sink in whirlpools of traffic, the road below will shrink and the approach roads will choke. Experts have voiced their concern over the ill-thought out project. The estimated cost of Rs 1,350 crore is a criminal waste of public money and is too high for a single project of dubious utility, serious side-effects and
disruptive consequences. And where will so much money come from? The Central funds have dried up. The people will have to pay for it, which will make it a paid private highway. Public roads and public transport are the best means to beat traffic blues. A venture which throws public transport out of gear and inconveniences the public is not good, and should be opposed. There has been no public debate on a project which costs so much and affects the lives of people in many wrong ways.
 
The state government is pursuing this project when there is a viable alternative route which can be developed at less cost and will serve the airport and the people better. A multi-mile steel contraption rising over the roads will also spoil the aesthetics of the city.

It will be a why in the sky with no good answers. The Congress government, led by Siddaramaiah, should listen to the experts who are stridently opposed to this project, and drop this anti-people project at once.