Citizen activists in Bengaluru have issued an open letter to CM BS Yediyurappa two days before he will be presenting present the state budget for the financial year 2020-21.
Ahead of Budget day in Karnataka, a coalition of 40-plus civic groups wrote an open letter to Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa urging him to enable mass transport systems in Bengaluru and cancel the contentious elevated corridor project. Chief Minister Yediyurappa is set to present the state budget for the financial year 2020-21 on Thursday. In a press meet on Tuesday, activists representing Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBPV), Whitefiled Rising (WR), Bangalore Environmental Trust (BET), among others, said that they are releasing an open letter as they failed to get an appointment with the Chief Minister despite multiple attempts. They urged the Chief Minister to spend public money on better solutions to combat the traffic in the city. The elevated corridor is expected to cost around ₹27,000 crore Read: Karnataka CM orders cancellation of Bengaluru elevated corridor project tender Incidentally, the proposal to build the elevated corridor, which has faced stiff opposition from activists and has even been scrutinised by courts, resurfaced last month after the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Naryan held a meeting to discuss it. This after the BJP had itself protested against it when it was in the opposition during the chief ministership of Siddaramaiah. The citizen groups BBPV and CfB have been recently meeting many city MLAs, both of the ruling and opposition parties, to urge them to ask the CM to subsidise the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). Till date, at least eight MLAs have complied to their demands. The activists also met Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Naryan on the same issue. In their open letter, the activists have listed four areas where the funds can be used instead of the elevated corridor. The activists have called for doubling of the bus fleet and slashing the fares by half. At present, bus fares in Bengaluru are highest in the country and driving two-wheelers is cheaper, activists pointed out. Other than new buses and lowering of fares, activists demanded the speedy implementation of the long-pending suburban rail project and safe pedestrian and cycling infrastructure. In their letter to the CM, the activists praised the government for introducing Bus Priority Lanes which they said have transformed the commute along the Outer Ring Road which is otherwise known as the IT corridor of the city. In their letter, they said, “Although enforcement is still suboptimal, the BPL has shown clear commute savings and productivity increases as per its beneficiaries. This initiative by the new BJP Government of Karnataka is commendable and we hope to see this expanded across all arterial roads of the city. We greatly appreciate your announcement that 6000 new buses will be procured by the BMTC in a phased manner.” Read the full letter here: Namaskara! Bengaluru continues to be one of the most dynamic cities in the world and pride of India. As you are well aware, traffic congestion is one of our biggest challenges. We appreciate the recent measures taken by your government to find sustainable solutions. Bus Priority Lanes have transformed the commute along the Outer Ring Road, a road taken by lakhs and plagued with congestion and pollution. Although enforcement is still suboptimal, the BPL has shown clear commute savings and productivity increases as per its beneficiaries. This initiative by the new BJP Government of Karnataka is commendable and we hope to see this expanded across all arterial roads of the city. We greatly appreciate your announcement that 6000 new buses will be procured by the BMTC in a phased manner. We are closer than ever before to realize the dream of Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project. We are keeping our fingers crossed that your government will act on implementing it with alacrity given the decades long wait we have already endured. Suburban trains can not only help with decongestion, and the commute woes of ordinary citizens but also engender improved productivity & GDP for the city. The alarming sore spot, however, is the recent news on the elevated corridor project. As you know, citizen groups have opposed it, with reason, data and case studies from around the world to back the protests. Thousands were out on the street at Maurya Circle, just a year ago. Immediately following this, the then CM, Shri HD Kumaraswamy, met with us and assured us of rethinking on it. We would also like you to recall that the BJP offered an unstinting voice against this project at that time. We hope your stance is still with the citizens. You may know that countries all over are dismantling flyovers inside cities, and our own crown jewel, the IISc, in its report on the Elevated Corridor, using Bengaluru's traffic patterns and growth projections, unequivocally argues against the idea. The report proves that the project will not even hold the traffic volume slated for at the moment of its projected completion! As a popular people's leader of stature, we are counting on you to get this ill-advised project shelved immediately. We request that the projected cost (₹27,000 Crores) for the elevated corridor project by utilised instead, towards: 1. Speeding up suburban rail implementation 2. Procuring 6000 new buses for BMTC (including mini buses) 3. Reducing the BMTC fares by half (as BMTC has highest fares in the country and we are the only state that does not subsidize the public transport) combined with bus lanes, this will have great impact on traffic and pollution. 4. Providing footpaths, cycle lanes & signalled pedestrian crossings all over Bengaluru; we are the city with the highest pedestrian fatalities! We specifically ask that mass public transit be the top priority for a full 5 years, so there is accrued benefit to Bengaluru. Building flyovers and elevated corridors has not helped us in the past and we should not rush to build more of them without focusing on public transport, as we are doing now. We are very hopeful of a positive response from you. We believe that you see the rationality of our proposal and help Bengaluru become the world's best city for public transport instead of more concrete and construction.a
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