Bengaluru: The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday ordered the stay of injunction on the construction of steel flyover till January 18. However, the NGT has granted permission to start preliminary works like soil testing and survey. The Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) has proposed to construct the flyover between Basaveswara Circle and Esteem Mall near Hebbal.
The NGT prohibits the government from undertaking any kind of construction work till January 18. Meanwhile, the Citizens For Bengaluru (CFB) has said in a release that NGT hearing today again reaffirms the people’s stand that the steel flyover is a violation of environmental laws and cannot pass legal muster. “The state government and the BDA have not been permitted any action towards construction of the steel flyover or cutting of trees. This holds the state at square one not allowing any work on the steel flyover with the injunction continuing until Jan 18,’’ the CFB said.
It may be recalled that NGT restrained BDA from proceeding with construction of the steel flyover for four weeks in an interim stay order, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday night met representatives of Citizens for Bengaluru, who are opposing the project indicating that the government is open to consultations. Again the NGT extended the interim stay on the project till the next hearing on December 6.
The Rs 1,791-crore project proposed by the BDA to construct a 6.72 km long, 6-lane steel flyover between Basaveshwara Circle and Hebbal to ease traffic along a route leading to the international airport. It is proposed to be completed in 24 months, and opened by 2018. The contract is to be awarded to L&T. As many as 2.68 lakh vehicles will use the flyover every day, it is estimated.
Who is opposing the project?
Especially upset are older residents who are nostalgic about how green the city used to be. Strong opposition has come from the Namma Bengaluru Foundation run by Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar who is associated with the BJP. The Foundation’s petition on change.org, which had nearly 36,000 supporters.
The historian Ramachandra Guha, actor Prakash Belawadi, entrepreneurs Priya Chetty Rajagopal and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde have all voiced strong protests. The campaign has resonated most with the middle and upper middle classes, and many residents welfare groups have rallied in support. On October 16, a human chain of over 5,000 people spread over the length of the proposed steel flyover project — the first major physical protest, which was followed by smaller protests.
