BENGALURU: Opposition to the six elevated corridors mooted by chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and the pod-taxi project proposed by
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (
BBMP) has intensified, with citizen groups maintaining the two projects will only add more pain to the city.
Civic experts, who took part in the discussion 'Elevated corridors + podtaxi = Nexgen or Nightmare' at St Joseph's College of Commerce here on Saturday, urged the government to explore other mobility options instead of constructing another massive concrete structure.
Urban expert V Ravichander said: "It is still a mystery as to what the government is trying to address with elevated corridors. Do they want people to move fast and safe or vehicles to move fast? It is important to enhance public transport system in Bengaluru. Neither pod taxi nor elevated corridors would solve traffic congestion in the city. The same money can be invested for the development of Peripheral Ring Road which will make sense." He termed pod taxi a 'fever' and
elevated corridor a 'cancer' to the city.
Activist
Prakash Belawadi said the government has announced the project without public consultation. "If there is a feasibility study, it needs to be shared with public and a decision has to be made. Will they be ok if a heart or brain surgery is done without any consultation," he asked, adding that a few 'shanis' who operate as government advisers are pushing the project.
Ashish Verma, chairman, Transport Engineering Lab, IISc said elevated corridors would just create more problems and are definitely not a solution to decongest the city.
NS Mukunda of the Citizen Action Forum said no consultations were held before announcing the project. If the government doesn't drop the project, we will seek judicial intervention, he added.
Picture for representational purpose only.