Refuting allegations of corruption in the construction of the Rs 1,761 crore steel flyover project in Bengaluru, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday assured that everything about the project was transparent.
Speaking in Mangaluru, he said that the opposition BJP, which had initially proposed the project in 2010, was “spreading lies”, reported PTI.
“Many BJP legislators were in support of the project,” he claimed. “BJP did not oppose the project when it was announced in the 2014 budget. The party was raising objections now for reasons best known to them,” he said.
He added that the project would solve traffic problems in Bengaluru.
The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal has stayed the construction of the flyover for four weeks since it has been strongly opposed by few citizen groups.
Admitting the two petitions on the project on October 28, the bench passed the stay order and sought responses from the BDA and other agencies.
A petition against the project has been filed by Neeliah of the Swaraj Sanghatane, and another by V Balasubramanian, Former Additional Chief Secretary of Karnataka and NS Mukunda of the Citizen Action Forum.
For several weeks, Bengaluru’s residents have staged protests, strongly opposing the proposed project. The government claims that the 6.7km flyover will ease traffic jams between Basaveshwara Circle and Hebbal. However, independent experts and activists have disputed these claims and said that the project is wasteful and will end up being futile.
Environmentalists have alleged that the government has awarded the tender without obtaining the requisite environmental clearances and bypassing local governance laws which were enacted after constitutional amendments.
For a list of the major alleged violations, see here.