'City’zens breathe easier as elevated corridor is on hold

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Friday put the controversial elevated corridor project on hold, much to the relief of a large number of citizens who are against the Rs 26,000-crore project. The Court took objection to the way the state government rolled out the project without bringing it before the Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC), which is mandated to prepare a development plan for Bengaluru.


“Having heard learned advocates for the parties, we direct that there shall be no finalisation of the tender (elevated corridor) if it has not already been finalised. And even if the tender has already been finalised, no work shall be undertaken till the next date of hearing,” justice PS Dinesh Kumar said. The next hearing has been scheduled for June 3.


The order was passed after hearing the two-year-old petition of Citizens’ Action Forum, a citizen collective on the poor functioning of the crucial Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC). The citizen group had informed the court that the Karnataka Road Development Corporation (KRDCL) had invited bids for the elevated corridor project without getting clearance from the MPC.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections last March, the KRDCL had invited bids for a part of the 98-km elevated corridor project, much to the ire of citizen groups who were expecting public consultation as promised by chief minister HD Kumaraswamy.

NS Mukunda, president of the forum, called it a temporary victory. “The order is a lesson to the government that they can not move an inch without taking citizens into confidence before proposing projects. If the government tries to vacate the stay, we will fight it,” he said.

“We made a mention in the court that government was hurrying major projects like elevated corridor without the clearance of the MPC. There was no public consultation either. The MPC has met only once, that too when the previous government was in power. Our demand is that the government put the elevated corridor proposal before the committee,” Mukunda added.

Srinivas Alavilli, cofounder of Citizens for Bengaluru, welcomed the order. “Our effort of creating awareness on lack of public consultation and the urgent need for public transport has come to fruition. It’s high time the government follows due process before rolling out any project,” he said.

Urbanist Ashwin Mahesh said citizens are being taken for granted during the implementation of any projects. “The questions that were asked in the court are as same that citizens are asking the government. The government takes citizens for granted but in court, it is afraid of the judge,” he said.