Bengaluru sees protest against elevated corridor

Bengaluru, March 16 (IANS) Hundreds of people took to the streets here on Saturday to protest against the Karnataka government's proposed elevated corridor project, citing environmental concerns.

"The elevated corridor project poses a huge threat to hundreds of trees in the city. Instead of making these corridors for more private vehicles, the state government should provide a reliable public transport," one of the protesters said.

At least 50 citizen groups and regional welfare associations, including Citizens for Bengaluru, Environment Support Group and Citizens for Sustainability, staged protests urging the government to cancel the project.

As the proposed project, which would entail the felling of thousands of trees may not ease the traffic woes in this tech hub, people demanded more investment in the public transport system.

"One of the biggest hurdles in Bengaluru's progress is traffic congestion. The elevated corridor project is the solution to this. Some citizen groups are protesting against the project. My request to all is to come to me and raise their concerns. I will listen with an open mind to your feedback," Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy tweeted in response to the protests.

Kumaraswamy had allotted Rs 1,000 crore for the fiscal 2018-19 as part of the Budget to construct six interconnected elevated corridors over the next four years in order to cater to the growing traffic.

The elevated corridor project is estimated to cost the state exchequer nearly Rs 16,000 crore, and an additional amount for land acquisition.