Tejasvi Surya: Bengaluru cannot be contractors’ playground

Bengaluru: “Do not dump more flyovers on Bengaluru without public consultations and without putting the detailed project reports (DPRs) in the public domain,” Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya told state govt and Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (B-Smile).

His statement comes against the backdrop of B-Smile’s move to float tenders for nine short and medium-length elevated corridors across the city at a cost of Rs 3,100 crore. Most of the proposed projects fall within the Bangalore South parliamentary constituency, and they warrant wider public discussion before implementation, Surya said.

In a letter to B-Smile director BS Pralhad (who was also responsible for the city’s road infrastructure in the erstwhile BBMP) Saturday, Surya demanded an explanation on the rationale, technical feasibility and projected impact of the proposed projects, saying they are being pushed without transparency or public scrutiny.

The projects mentioned in the letter include an elevated corridor from Minerva Circle to Hudson Circle with a loop flyover to Town Hall, a 5.2km elevated corridor connecting Old Madras Road to Electronics City through Swami Vivekananda Metro station, Indiranagar, Old Airport Road, and Hosur Road up to Silk Board Junction at a cost of Rs 852 crore, and another 5.3km elevated corridor from Shoolay Circle to St John’s Hospital Road via Anepalya and Adugodi Junctions at a cost of Rs 519 crore.

Surya pointed out that the projects have allegedly not received prior approval from the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA), which is empowered to review and clear major mobility projects in the city. In the absence of such scrutiny, he argued, it remained unclear whether the flyovers are backed by scientific traffic planning or would merely shift congestion from one junction to another.

Citing the example of the Ragigudda flyover, Surya said poorly planned elevated corridors could worsen bottlenecks instead of solving them. “The high-speed elevated corridor ends at a busy traffic signal near Aurobindo Junction, merely shifting the Central Silk Board traffic bottleneck further down the road and causing severe congestion during peak hours,” he pointed out.

Surya also objected to the detailed project reports (DPRs) not being placed in the public domain despite the scale and long-term impact. “Bengaluru cannot be run like a contractors’ playground,” Surya added, insisting that public participation must form the basis of major infrastructure decisions in the city.