Scrap public hearing for PRR: Activists urge govt

Civic activists urge KSPCB not to hold the public consultation for the peripheral ring road scheduled on August 18 considering the exploding number of Covid-19 cases and the problems with the project itself.

In a letter to KSPCB chairman Vijayakumar Gogi, activists from Citizens for Bengaluru said the BDA's Peripheral Ring Road has been proposed without due process and consultation.
The BDA had misrepresented the number of trees to be cut for the project in its initial Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), the group said the revised EIA report has brought to light that 33,000 trees would be felled.

"However, the BDA has changed the alignment.., hence rendering it a new project as per the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act. This voids the current EIA and calls not just for a fresh EIA but a new development proposal scheme to be drafted, including wide-ranging public hearings, feasibility studies, alternatives and fresh budget approvals from the government of Karnataka," the letter said.

The group also noted that asking people to congregate for a public hearing on the project was unsafe and irresponsible. "In fact, it is a violation of the Disaster Management Act which forbids arrangement of congregations," the letter said.

The letter added that they were only demanding the government to follow the law of the land and restart the PRR project from the first stage.