Public hearing on Peripheral Ring Road project postponed

In a victory of sorts for activists opposing the proposal for the Peripheral Ring Road, the public hearing scheduled for Tuesday morning has been postponed.

The Bengaluru Development Authority has faced the ire of the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court for withholding facts about the project in its previous environment impact assessment report, which put the number of trees to be axed at 200.

Last month, in a revised report, the authority said that the 65.5-km PRR, estimated to cost Rs 15,111 crore, requires the felling of 33,838 trees, about a quarter of them in the Thippagondanahalli catchment area. The government sought to give a push to the project by deciding to hold a public hearing on Tuesday.

However, civic groups opposed the plan to hold a public hearing event amid the pandemic and said the proposal has not gone through the due procedure.

Activists from Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) and others wrote to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), BDA and other officials seeking postponement of the event and clarification on the proposal.

“When we didn’t get a response, we started calling up officials. Finally, it was Forest Minister Anand Singh who heard us out and took up the matter with the officials,” said Tara Krishnaswamy of CfB.

KSPCB member secretary Srinivasulu confirmed the postponement. “The event has been postponed as per instructions from the Deputy Commissioner (Bengaluru Urban),” he said.

‘We’re not against PRR’

Tara clarified that CfB was not against the PRR, but wants the BDA to come clean on the project. “They have changed the alignment of the road, which requires a fresh proposal. Taking a shortcut through a revised EIA report is not the way to go about the project,” she said.

Noting that BDA was the authority in planning the future of Benglauru, she said officials should place the PRR in the larger context of the metro and suburban rail and plan facilities like bus lanes.