The matter is likely to be mentioned in the Karnataka High Court, which had stayed the elevated corridor in 2019.
File image of protest against elevated corridor
Activists in Bengaluru who have raised their voice and hit the streets in recent times over the controversial 88-km elevated corridor project have vowed to oppose it yet again. This after the project was once again given the go-ahead by the state government. The first phase of the project was stalled by the BS Yediyurappa government as he had cancelled the tender consisting of 21 km and costing Rs 6,8885 crore citing irregularities in June, 2019. Now, a year-and-a-half later, the state government has okayed the project as part of the Comprehensive Mobility Plan for the city without an official announcement. Incidentally, the BJP which is in power had seen several of its senior MLAs including present-day ministers like R Ashoka oppose the elevated corridor project in the past. TNM reached out to Revenue Minister R Ashoka for a comment, but calls to him went unanswered. Read: U-turn by BJP: After protesting Bengaluru elevated corridor, govt likely to okay project? The issue of elevated roads has been a topic of debate in recent years among Bengaluru residents with a section seeking such roads as a measure to fix the city’s traffic problem while another vocal group calls it a “flawed” solution. Other than the massive financial and environmental cost, in terms of felled trees, increased concretisation, damage to lake ecosystems—- activists and a section of experts point out that the solution of increasing road capacity may in fact be counterproductive. They cite the theory of induced demand where many western mega cities saw growth in traffic with increasing road capacity and are now focussing on public transport. Tara Krishnaswamy, co-founder of Citizens for Bengaluru, which had spearheaded the movement against the Steel Flyover project, said it is strange how the BJP, including current ministers who had opposed the project when they were in opposition, is now re-introducing this project and that too surreptitiously. “Our position has not changed. This was never needed and it will be a tremendous waste of money and degrade life in Bengaluru and the construction itself will cost a lot of inconveniences. This will make Bengaluru further a pedestrian-unfriendly city and damage the remaining greenery. We instead believe that the money should be spent on public buses, suburban rail, and pedestrian facilities,” she said. She added, “Other than the specific case of elevated corridors, we believe that the CMP itself is illegal as it has been done by the BMRCL (metro rail authority) without any authority to do so. We demand that this plan is done by Bengalureans for Bengaluru through the proper public consultation process and not by some private contractor or a particular transport body.” Sandeep Anirudhan, Convenor - Citizens Agenda for Bengaluru termed the project problematic. “In the background of both the 74th Amendment and the National Urban Transport Policy, the CMP is illegal. The CMP ought to be a subset of the Masterplan which again is to be authored by the Metropolitan Planning Committee. So we are several steps away from both a legal CDP as well as a legal CMP.” Alleging nepotism and corruption in the adoption of the CMP, Sandeep said, “It is a plan decided by contractors and service providers to benefit themselves. It is not a plan for the city or its citizens. It needs to be thrown in the dustbin, where it deserves to be.” Legal hurdles The elevated corridor issue was also included as part of an ongoing litigation at the Karnataka High Court which had stayed the project in April 2019 for the first time. The project has not been given a clear go-ahead by the court yet. The HC was hearing a petition by Citizens Action Forum which had sought the formation of a functioning Metropolitan Planning Council as stated in the 74th Constitutional Amendment. According to the 74th Constitutional Amendment, all town planning activities have to be done by the Metropolitan Planning Committee, of which two-thirds of the members have to be elected corporators. Incidentally, the Namma Bengaluru Foundation, an NGO founded by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar had also joined as a party to the case making the same demand. The elevated corridor was mentioned in the case as the petitioners wanted all large scale projects like the elevated corridor to be okayed only through the MPC followed by the mandated public consultation process. Speaking with TNM, VIjayan Menon of CAF, said, “The Constitution says that all city wide plans like the city-wide Master Plan or the CMP have to be okayed by the MPC and all sectoral plans have to be coordinated under the MPC. So the problem is that if a CMP is done in isolation, then none of the other aspects are taken care of.” He added, “We will bring the issue of CMP to the court’s notice. We are not opposing the elevated corridor on its merits or demerits but the Constitutionality and due process behind approving these big-ticket projects.” This is, however, not the only legal hurdle, some activists have also mentioned that the project has been approved in contravention of Section 14A of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act. Section 14A of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act deals with changes in land use plans with a detailed public consultation process.
from Karnataka https://ift.tt/3oUBEHm
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment