In an interview with Citizen Matters, RK Misra who had earlier batted for the steel flyover says he would now choose 12,000 buses over the Elevated Corridor project.
There are less expensive fixes available for the Hebbal traffic mess, which can make the steel flyover unnecessary, according to Naresh Narasimhan. He thinks metro line to airport is the best fix for the problem.
There is bound to be a strong reason for people who support elevated roads in their own backyard to oppose ‘steel flyover’ in another area. Such complex arguments can never be classified into binaries. Here’s a slice of such complexity simplified for clarity.
An umbrella of hot air over the built-up area of the city is an ‘urban heat-island’. There are many processes contributing to the temperature —air pollutants, vehicular movements, loss of tree cover and more. Steel flyover could be one of them.
Could systemic public engagement prevent imbroglios of the kind created by the Bengaluru steel flyover proposal? What steps and caveats would be necessary for that?
It was a mix of lessons in social justice, equality, sustainability, citizen involvement in civic issues and politics of development in cities, not limited to Bengaluru, in addition to the culmination of the symbolic no-vote collection drive.
No-vote collections, viral video campaigns, rally, consultation and other elements have been planned by Citizens for Bengaluru team, to bring awareness among public on the steel flyover planned on Ballari Road.
Balaji Ganesan argues that the steel flyover will help take away the fast-moving traffic that goes towards Hebbal and ORR on the elevated stretch while the grade level can be safely used by neighborhood traffic, pedestrians and cyclists.
Kathyayini Chamraj, who questions the rationale behind steel flyover, also suggests alternative meaningful ways to invest public money. Will the government listen?
The government not following the due process in the steel flyover issue has irked many public policy experts, while the Bengaluru Development Authority helped the controversy by hiding the information and refusing to share the data that was already in public domain.
