Byrathi Basavaraj, the MLA from the KR Puram constituency in Bengaluru has a big announcement for his constituents stuck in traffic jams, he plans to build a new flyover at a cost of Rs 200 crore. The announcement was made at a meeting in Palace grounds, following the portfolio allocations on February 8.
The flyover will be between Indiranagar BDA complex to Medahalli, which is a village that comes after KR Puram, according to Asianet News. The distance between these two points is more than 12 kilometers, and is consistently choked with traffic at all hours of the day.
Byrathi Basavaraj was initially given the Urban Development Department excluding Bangalore and Town Planning department, BBMP, BDA, BWSSB, BMRDA, BMRCL, KUWSDB and KUIDFC. These departments would be held by the Chief Minister himself.
However, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa reshuffled the portfolio on Tuesday, and the changes included that Byrathi Basavaraj would get the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB), and the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC). After the announcement of the new portfolio, Byrathi Basavaraj immediately made the announcement regarding the flyover.
People have been voicing their concerns against the increasing concretization of the city, and have been vocally against new flyovers.
Srinivas Alavilli, from Citizens for Bengaluru, says, “Sounds like the minister loves lot of concrete. Someone must tell him that flyovers don’t solve traffic problems but make them worse through induced demand. Use the ₹200 crore to get storm water drains cleared. The upcoming Metro and suburban rail project will solve the traffic problem much sooner than he can build half the flyover.”
Urban Development expert from IISc, Ashish Verma underlined the fact the money would be wasted in building a flyover. “Why is the minister jumping to prescribing solutions when there is already a draft CMP (Comprehensive Mobility Plan) being prepared, and is under review? Such point-based road infrastructure measures have little short-term impact, but at a much higher investment cost. In simple words, high investment with low return. No sensible person will make such a huge investment,” he said.