Govt working to win public vote on elevated corridor

As the public outcry against the elevated corridor is increasing, the state government is now preparing its ground to ensure that the project is not shelved.

Ahead of holding public consultations, the state government is working on getting all the required clearances and approvals from experts and government
agencies. The government is cautiously moving ahead with the 95-km project and not making any hasty decisions as it happened in the case of the steel flyover.

The Congress-led government in March had shelved the 6.9-km steel flyover from Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal after increased public outcry.

At a meeting with KRDCL officials on Wednesday, the government said it is now studying all probabilities of how the project cost can be reduced from the proposed Rs 15,825 crore. “We discussed on reducing the land acquisition cost and making transfer of developmental rights (TDR) mandatory. This will reduce the project cost,” a KRDCL official said.

The government has also started looking for experts and consultants to undertake independent environmental studies. Environmental studies will also have to show how the number of trees, to be axed from 2,800, can be brought down, government sources told DH.

The government has also decided to rope in experts from IISc to give their consent for the 95-km elevated corridor. This has come even as many experts in IISc have opposed the proposal from the first day. The government has also decided to seek the opinion of various government and private engineers to put out the best plan for the elevated corridor.

In the case of the steel flyover, the National Highways Authority of India had said that they were not consulted. The government has now decided to hold a meeting with NHAI officials also.

But the demand from urban and IISc experts on the need for holistic development along the ring road has not been made a part of the feasibility study.

The government has not incorporated development of townships on the city outskirts to decongest traffic.